Star Fox 40,000: Realm of Chaos :: Eternal War
by GamerJay
Summary: SF x Warhammer 40,000 crossover. CHAPTER 5 UP! The War for Lylat continues, and the dark servants of Change once again rear their ugly heads. CURRENTLY ON HOLD!
1. Prologue: Those Days the World Went Away

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or Warhammer 40,000. They are property of Nintendo and Games Workshop, respectively. The character _Jakob_ belongs to SF Ghost and used with permission.**

* * *

recording message….

subject: Fox McCloud, xeno mercenary….

999.M41…

unsecured lasline

**thought for the day: the dead watch over us and guide us.**

_Alright, is this thing on…okay…_

_I am Fox McCloud, I am an orange vulpine born on Corneria, 4__th__ planet of the Lylat System, though my race originated from the planet Evergreen. I am twenty-seven years old and the head of Team Star Fox, self-called 'Commandos-forHire'. My father, James McCloud, and his closest friend, and my mentor, Peppy Hare, had formed it and it was practically my civic duty to take over one day._

_When I turned ten my mother, Vixy Reinards, was killed in an assassination attempt. My father's car had been rigged with a bomb, and she had decided to take it for the day. At the time me and my dad, James McCloud were out on a trip through Lylat…which had been my birthday present. Heh, who would've thought…on my birthday? The best, and after finding out later on my mum was murdered, and worst day of my life._

You know they say that life's a bitch? If that's true then it was more like an asshole to Jacques, and it's been nothing but an asshole to him before he was even born. Say around five or six whole millenniums before he was born.

_Six thousand years ago the Imperium of Man invaded my home system, Lylat. They came from a neighbouring galaxy that they seemingly occupied completely. They are xenophobic; that is, they hate and fear anything that doesn't resemble a hairless ape. Their religion is based on war, and the person at their very centre of worship is the 'God-Emperor of Mankind', which is self-explanatory. He sees all, hears all, and through him the Imperium is grand…at least that's what they make the half-dead corpse out to be, no offence to any human hearing this._

_They would have exterminated every Lylatian back then, but going only as far as Kew if it weren't for Marshall Hare's negotiations with them. What he had said to the Imperium that kept them out of Lylat has been lost…or deleted from the history books. I don't know which, it's anyone's guess._

_Seventeen-years ago the Imperium returned, this time their target was Cerinia, a planet on the edge of Lylat not far from Sauria, now known as Sector C. This time they played the so-called 'saviours'…stopping a religious cult known as Chaos or 'the Void' from taking over. The Cerinians were suckered into believing the Ultramarines were saviours, among them Krystal. Cornerian army intelligence monitored that situation for years…_

…

…

…

…

_Sorry, zoned out for a second there…ah…four years later, the planet was destroyed. The Cerinian race was wiped out, and according to Jacques and Krystal who managed to get off the planet, a large number of humans including most of the Ultramarines 2__nd__ Company also died as well._

_Around the same time there were outbreaks of religious extremism on the planets Evergreen and Falconia. Just as the Cornerian army was about to intervene, the Imperium returned a third time, bringing with them a massive armed taskforce led mainly by the Ultramarines, and overseen by the Alien Hunters of the Inquisition. They had the opportunity back then to wipe out Lylat for good, but instead it was just those two planets and approximately 1.6 billion people._

_I had just joined the Cornerian Flight Academy back then, the same place where dad and Peppy went through and earned their wings. I would have officially earned mine if dad hadn't been killed while investigating terrorist activity on Venom, betrayed by his wingman Pigma Dengar. Only Peppy escaped._

_And through a…heh…bizarre turns of events about a week ago I found out he had his heart ripped out on a alter that had the Eight-Pointed Star engraved on it by none other than Andross himself. Can you fucking believe that…?_

_  
Sorry…excuse my language._

_So I dropped out of the Academy and took the helm of Star Fox's chief pilot. Joining me was my childhood friend Slippy Toad, mercenary pilot Falco Lombardi and of course, Peppy._

_I'm sure you know what happened during the Lylat Wars, Saurian Incident and Krystal joining the group, so I won't get into any detail on that. Back to the Imperials…and Jacques Mortensen. Eight years later we met each other shortly after the Aparoid crisis and Andrew Oikonny had taken over his uncle Andross in trying to make Lylat a worse place to live in. Jacques helped us take down a pair of rogue daemons that Andrew was experimenting on, though one of them had escape and possessed the body of my other good friend Bill Grey._

_We recruited Jacques afterwards to handle heavy weapons, the first human ever to be accepted into Star Fox. After a month on board Krystal tried to get him Cornerian citizenship, but they wouldn't have that…and in a way I secretly didn't want that either. At that time I was afraid of him, but we need him…all that muscle behind that power armour and his pure fanaticism as a fighter. It took another couple of months for me to truly warm up to him._

_Afterwards we fought the Greenskin Orks on MacBeth, mercenaries brought in by Oikonny. We wiped out thousands of them, including their leader, Warboss Gorgutz. Their trail led us to the planet Papetoon, the site of several past archaeological studies. To our horror we found out that Andross was cloning an army of Space Marine derived from Jacques' DNA; around the same time those digs had uncovered another Daemon Gate, like the same ones found on Evergreen and Falconia and were responsible for the Chaos outbreaks there._

_The Imperium…the Space Marine intervened once again. Spooked, Oikonny had grabbed Krystal and plunged into the Daemon Gate amidst a sea of Venomians, clone Marines and Daemons. Jacques was the only guy that followed in after them…_

_Minutes late he came back out, Krystal in his arms and Oikonny's blood on his armour. Krystal later mentioned that she heard Jacques say the F word for the first time ever, heh…can you imagine Jacques dropping the F bomb?_

_Anyway…afterwards Papetoon was destroyed. Not by the Imperium, but by Chaos, the antithesis of life. Jacques decided to leave afterwards, being the selfless type he is, in order for us to avoid any scrutiny with General Pepper. This was the first time I also saw Jacques and Krystal hug each other. I couldn't tell if it was like they were brother and sister or if they embraced each other like lovers. Gah…I've almost been tearing my headfur out over that…_

_A year later… this hell that's going on right now…_

_Unless you're a Lylatian-hating human with the Double Eagle seared onto your forehead and a codex surgically implanted into your arm for quick reference you probably already felt sorry for me. Me saying my mom died on my birthday, killed by the ape that killed my dad afterwards through some sick pseudo-Satanic ritual._

_Save your pity, it's Jacques who deserves it…_

recording cut off…by order of Inquisitor Mordecai Toth, Ordo Malleus

in the Emperor's name

* * *

Prologue – Those Days The World Went Away

* * *

_Each path must be chosen with care, lest disaster swallow us whole._  
_**- Varro Tigurius, Ultramarines Chief Librarian**_

**Eden, Undisclosed system  
**_**Segmentum Ultima**_

_**978.M41**_

The thin, brown-haired youth no older than fifteen laid sprawled on the grassy hillside just outside the technologically adept small village, which smoke rose from the burning buildings and covering the sun as it slowly descended behind the hills, signalling daybreak. He felt his himself slowly losing blood as he gripped the bloodied golden hilt of an Omega/Imperial crested longsword with one hand, the blood coming from a chainsword slash to his back.

The pain he had felt courtesy of the xenophobic Imperium of Man was blaring, almost mind shattering. Amidst the screams, pleas and cries of terror, he had only thought himself as he had tried to get away from his village with only his family and friends in tow, not his other neighbours. The pain he felt now was of shame and regret, as he was the only one now alive. He tried to get up, using the sword as leverage with the blade dug into the ground to lift him up.

"David!"

He spun around and was immediately hugged, if not nearly tackled, by a grey-furred, short black haired kemono wolf girl his age, but an couple of inches taller than him and dressed in linen pants and shirt. The wolf girl buried her face into his chest as they embraced

"S…Seven?"

The wolf girl, with her violet eyes, looked into the boy known as David's eyes, with anticipation, as if he knew what they should do now, despite him near dead from a combination of shock, pain, blood loss and grief. But the boy with his might, fought to stay conscious, and alive…especially since she was here with here.

"God," she moaned, "You're losing blood."

David gritted his teeth, "I don't think I'm…I'm...."

He then fell from her grasp and back onto the ground, finally letting go of the sword. The wolfgirl known as Seven shrieked and got on her knees and attempted to get him back on his feet. She gritted her teeth when she realised he was trying to actively resist.

"Damn it, David," Seven yelled, "You've never given up on anything. Don't even think of starting now!"

"Mum…dad…" David cried out loud, tears streaming down his cheeks, "They're…dead!"

"C'mon!" Seven exclaimed into his face as he carefully walked him as fast as possible down the hill and away from the burning village, his blood all over her clothes now, "Those metal freaks are gonna return any moment!"

Sensing she wasn't going to let him go no matter what, David muttered, "Starbase #23-A…the PDF…were moving survivors there…"

"Then that's where we're going," Seven cried with determination, "It's not far…"

Her words were cut short when the sound of a boltpistol cracked into the air and bolter shell hit the ground next to them. They both looked back to see black-coloured power armoured brutes with various emblem designs on their right pauldrons marching out of the village towards the hillside, various weapons equipped and each having killed at least a dozen each.

"C'mon!"

Seven lugged David along as they ran as they fast as they could down the hill as gunfire blazed behind them. The wolf girl cursed inwardly as she realised they were fleeing across a grassy knoll and there were no way to hide or evade from their pursuers, and they would practically be seeing how far they could go before they finally met…

No. Seven refused to think like that. She just kept running, arm around David's chest as they fled, the boy's movements varying between putting one foot before the other or limping pathetically, but he always kept up with the wolf girl's movements.

That was until his strength gave out…

"DAVID!"

…and he collapsed, taking Seven with him. Still crying, he let got of he.

"Just go," he sobbed, "Leave me here! Get out of here!"

With tears rolling down her eyes as well, Seven shook her head and grabbed him by the arms.

"I'M NOT GETTING OFF THIS PLANET WITHOUT YOU!" Seven shouted in anger, "I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!"

Softer and quieter, she added.

"And _I_ don't want to die, either."

Suddenly a Thunderhawk transport flew overhead above the knoll and landed not far from their position, just as the sounds of artillery shells pierced their ears and blanketed the whole area with smoke. The human boy and the wolf girl let got of one another to cover their mouths and close their eyes tightly, a natural reaction to the smoke.

When it cleared, they found themselves before a whole squad of Death Watch, the Chamber-Militant of the Ordo Xeno – the alien-hunting branch of the dreaded Imperial Holy Inquisition.

David forced himself onto his knees as he and Seven stared down the seven Death Watch Marines and two Inquisitors. One of them was a bald-headed, spectacle-wearing man with a faint stubble on his face. He was equipped in grayish power armor with the Mechanized skull and crossbones over the Inquisitorial I motif on his left pauldron and a roaring lion-like creature on his right.

Inquisitor Kryptman – The Hero of the Macharian Heresy.

_A/N: I finally found a proper image of Kryptman on the WH40K Lexicanum (wiki)._

The other Inquisitor looked out of place when compared to the blackness that surrounded the Ordo Xeno, with his gold/black armor and daemonhammer stored on his back, proper for the Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus – Daemonhunters. This one was also bald, but black-skinned with a mechanized left eye.

Inquisitor Mordecai Toth of the Demonhunters branch of the Inquisition, the Ordo Malleus.

Gripping his sword tightly, David felt the impulse to push Seven behind himself and confront the attackers.

"What the hell do you want with us?" David demanded, "Why are you attacking us?"

Kryptman just smiled, angering David even more.

"What have we ever done to you?"

Kryptman shook his head, "It is not what you have done to _us_, it is what you have done to _humanity_."

Incensed, Seven shouted as she gripped onto David's arm protectively, "What are you talking about?"

One boltpistol blast later Seven fell backwards onto the grass, letting go of David's arm as she went down. To David, time slowed to a crawl as he watched her fall, mouth agape and eyes almost popping out of his skull from the shock. The Imperial looked on in disgust as he got down on his knee and hovered above Seven, seeing that she had been shot in the chest and there left a gaping, bloody hole but she was still alive.

"S…Seven?"

The wolf girl coughed blood, before reaching up to caress David's face, feeling his tears trickle down from his eyes and onto his face, causing her to tear up as well knowing what he was about to lose in her.

She decided to make sure he would definitely never forget her. First by smashing her lips against his in a warm kiss.

"David," she struggled to say, smiling warmly at him, "I…love you so much."

And she died right there and then just before the David could comprehend what had just happened. He looked up from the body of his closest friend at the Inquisitor, tasting her blood on his lips and his face scrunched with hatred for this bespectacled armoured man. His teeth bared in hatred and causing the Deathwatch Marines to aim their bolters cautiously at him. Kryptman frowned and turned to the nearest Marine.

"Restrain him and prepare him for transport."

The Marine nodded and stepped forward, shouldering his boltgun as he stretched his left hand toward the almost feral-like youth, unconcerned about the sword that laid before him and the wolf xeno's corpse. He was an Astartes originally from the Salamanders chapter judging from the chapter symbol on his right pauldron, and had been known back home for his quick reflexes as well as his instinct to detect xeno a mile away. But even he didn't anticipate that David would quickly reach for the sword and sever his left hand with one slash.

The Marine grunted in discomfort and quickly reached for his bolter as David snarled and thrust his sword forward and pierced the black armour and the left heart region of the Marine. The Marine bellowed in surprise and toppled over sideways as David pulled the blade back and awkwardly waved it at the rest of the Deathwatch detachment.

No longer caring if he was to die or not, David charged at Kryptman…

"!"

…screaming out something similar to a battle cry, sword point positioned behind himself as if ready to sever Kryptman's head clean off with one swing. Still frowning, Kryptman waved the guns of his Marines down as David came closer, and when he swung his sword Krpytman reached forward and with both hands grabbed the blade by the flat side with his armoured fingers forcefully.

This startled David to no end, and he had no time to recollect himself as Krpytman stepped forward and slapped the boy across the face, downing him. Toth watched on, deciding to play witness to the events escalating before him.

And with that he knew that the Ultramarines Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes had a hand in this when suddenly blue-coloured drop pods descended from the sky and out stepped the warriors of Ultramar. They were adorned in their slightly golden ornate armour symbolising that they were the Honour Guard of the Lord Macragge, armed with their power axes with embroidered boltpistol sidearms holstered to their sides. When _he_ stepped out, he was a sight to behold in his magnificent artificer armour and his weapons of choice, the massive power fists known as Gauntlets of Ultramars. Though white-haired and his age numbered hundreds of years, the Lord Macragge didn't look a day over fifty, thanks to the supposed Gift of Immortality bestowed upon the sons of Guilliman, the Ultramarines.

"I knew one day this world would taste fire once the rest of this damned galaxy caught up with it," Marneus Augustus Calgar remarked, "Though I would not expect that you would be the one lighting the torches, Kryptman."

"Then that is folly of you to no think so," Kryptman said, "You know why I have come here."

Calgar then turned to Toth and asked, "And what of you, Inquisitor Toth?"

Steel-faced, Toth replied with absolute resolve, "The Puritans demanded to investigate how degraded the Radicals have become. The evidence…"

He indicated a slightly trembling David, who tried his earnest to keep a brave face.

"…is more than I can bear to stomach."

Kryptman smiled, "Come now, Toth of Malleus. The alien threat will finally be quelled in ten or twenty years time once Jacques here has put on the black armour of the Death Watch."

Alarmed at those foreboding words, David hissed, "Screw you!"

The bespectacled Inquisitor frowned at him once again, "You say that now. When you become of age, you will understand."

Calgar stepped forward, immediately having the Deathwatch's guns aimed at him.

"Now if the true servants of humanity have any say in it," Calgar bellowed, "What plans you have in mind for the boy is barbaric at best and unholy at worst. The Ultramarines have much better things in store for David here."

Krpytman snorted, "Yes. I am sure despite the McCloud debacle you will groom the boy to become humanity's saviour. Why your chapter was not declared Excommunicatus Traitorous is beyond my imagination."

"And how the Radicals even allowed your little experiments to go forth is madness on their part," Calgar pointed out, "The results…are unsettling to think of."

Despite the death and destruction around them, an unnatural silence passed over the grassy plains and knoll that they stood on as realisation dawned upon them. Kryptman narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ground, angry at himself for once again allowing the _real question_ to slip his mind once again. _Projectum: Avalon_ was constantly having that effect on him: that his mind was too focused on the current results that it left no time to wonder about the consequences to him personally.

Calgar smirked, "I suppose then that the real question is: Which of us is more afraid of Inquisitorial retribution on part of our supposed heresies that would supposedly benefit humanity?"

Toth twitched his nose in disgust, "So you play off the Ordo Xeno's fear of exposure, Lord Macragge?"

The Ordo Malleus Inquisitor faced Kryptmann.

"He has you in a corner once again, Kryptmann," Toth pointed out, "Though I personally keep silent, who I am to decide what should come next in such an unholy duel?"

Kryptmann gritted his teeth, before sighing in defeat and turning to the Deathwatch Marine holding David.

"Release Jacques."

The Marine let go of David's shoulder, causing him to fall forward onto the ground. Calgar smiled, seeing that Kryptmann was giving into his demands once again. However as David got up and hesitantly begun to walk towards the Ultramarine, he noticed that his sword was lying on the ground and so kneeled to pick it up. And as he stood up Kryptmann drew a gladius…

"AWWWWK!"

…and ran David through with it.

Afterwards he sheathed the gladius behind his back; Kryptmann frowned as Calgar kneeled over David's fallen, skewered form as the boy begun to breathe in and out at a rapid rate, knowing that his death was assured. Though Calgar looked up to shoot the Inquisitor an angry glare, his eyes were that of sullenness and regret.

"So if _you_ cannot have him, humanity has to suffer?" Calgar demanded an explanation.

Shaking his head, Kryptmann growled, "And _you_ swore to protect the innocent. Once again…_pathetic_."

Escorted by his Deathwatch Marines, Kryptmann turned around and walked towards the waiting Deathwatch Thunderhawk waiting nearby. Toth stared over at the Ultramarines and David's rapidly deteriorating physical shell, a hint of pity being evident in his eyes. Toth lowered his eyes and sneered quietly.

"I have pity for an abomination like this child?" Toth questioned himself, then reasoned out loud, "It must be because he looks human."

"He _is_ human, Inquisitor," Calgar chided.

"His eyes say otherwise," Toth responded coolly, "You best hope for your sake that your actions are not considered heretical, Lord Macragge, but rather in the pursuit of a madman."

"You will just watch events unfold?" Calgar demanded.

"I will act appropriately when the time is right," Toth answered, "But for now on behalf of the Emperor I am a witness."

Toth then left the scene, following after Kryptmann and boarding the same Thunderhawk. It then took off and disappeared into the smoke filled sky, leaving Calgar and his Honour Guard on the surface of the burning garden world. Calgar watched the transport as it faded from view, then down at the boy, who had since stopped breathing and closed his eyes.

Calgar grimaced, "Yes, your origins make you an abomination, David. But even you did not deserve this fate. So I say to you now…"

He then stood up, continuing to look down at the boy, but appearing hard and stern.

"…you do not seriously thinking of giving up now, do you 'Jacques'?"

----------

The boy groaned as he found looking up at ceiling of darkness, lying on a ground composed of darkness in a world composed of darkness. To put it simply, he didn't feel like he was floating in darkness, but rather lying on top of the darkness. He could even pick himself up and stand on his own too feet, though he quickly felt woozy and fell back down.

'I must be dead,' David thought, depressed, 'I knew in a way you'd realise you're dead.'

Covering his face with his hand, he peeked through between two of his fingers and thought, 'Is this Purgatory? Is this because I killed that soldier? I lived a good life until this point where I just took some guy's life?'

He tried standing up again, managing to stay on his two feet this time.

'God,' he continued to think miserably, 'Why has this happened?'

Suddenly a bright line shone through the darkness from above and illuminated the spot he stood on him. David was that startled he didn't bother to cover his eyes, but kept his open amidst the blinding light to see someone step out of the light towards him.

"Jacques!"

David's mouth was agape when the tall individual stepped out of the light to reveal himself as a tall, ten-foot man with black hair that reached down to the base around his neck, a crown of golden laurels atop his head. He couldn't see the colour of his eyes as the radiance that shown forth from his golden power armour adorned in the Imperial aquila absconded his face from total view.

The youth stretched his hand in front of his eyes when the glare became too much for him.

"God?" he asked.

In a deep, authoritative, holy voice the towering man in power armour responded calmly, "I prefer not to be referred that way."

"Who are you then?" David asked, "Are you…real?"

"I go by no name, though when I forged the Imperium of Man that still exists to this day I was it's _master_, it's _Emperor_," the man replied, "And in some ways I am both real and _unreal_."

David shook his head slowly, "I…don't understand."

"Of course not. Mercifully you had been spared the horror that is reality for all of your life up to his point," the Emperor looked down at him, "Now it has finally caught up with you."

The boy nodded sadly, "I didn't think it'd all end like this."

He ran his arm under his nose as he tried to stop himself from crying, with little success.

"They hated us," he sobbed, "We did nothing to them, yet they told us they hated us as they killed us. As they killed me."

Not moved at all by the boy's misery, the Emperor stated, "Who has said that you are dead, David?"

Tear running down from his eyes and cheeks, David looked up at the Emperor's face.

"I was just run through with a blade," the boy said, "I'm probably just hallucinating."

"Even if you are hallucinating," the Emperor crossed his arms, "And I am just a figment of your dying imagination, do you really plan to give up on yourself?"

David croaked as he collapsed to his knees and held himself, "My parents…my friends, they're all dead. I…want to be with them…but…"

He closed his eyes tightly and shouted out loud as the tears poured out.

"I…I don't want to die. At least not yet."

Frowning, the Emperor stretched his golden gauntlet forward, for if he wasn't an apparition and was indeed real the machinations and servo-muscles in his ancient armour would have functioned like clockwork to comply with his physical will. Opening his eyes, David wiped away the tears to see the Emperor looking sternly down at him, hand stretched towards him. Sucking back a hiccup, the boy reached forward and took the Emperor's gauntlet.

The Emperor then smiled warmly at him, and then cryptically explained, making sure each word was burnt into the youth's mind.

"You will be denounced traitor. You will be deemed saviour. You will be called sympathiser. You will be considered naive. You will be deemed misunderstood. You will be reviled and celebrated. You will be hated, yet you will be loved."

The Emperor helped David back up onto his feet.

"Father?" David muttered to himself.

"I am not _him_," the Emperor quipped, "I am considered the Father of Mankind, maybe, but I am not _him_."

And there in that place that existed not in the material or immaterial realms, but in the realm of the human mind, the boy known as David made his conscious decision to remain in the land of the living. Despite the death and horror that surrounded him, that _will_ surround him, he would choose to remain alive. He didn't care if this magnificent looking being was real or if he was suffering from a blood-loss induced hallucination, but he felt compelled to not die yet.

It was because of that resolve that the boy would grow to be man.

----------

**Macragge, Ultramar system  
**_**Segmentum Ultima**_

_**983.M41**_

The bald-headed youthful looking man, this day having just reached his twentieth year of existence, stumbled out of the passenger cabin of the Thunderhawk transport. Cuts, slashes and other assorted gaping wounds spread out all over his bloodied muscle blackened torso, all of which destined to become scars. The flak-armour he had previously worn had been ripped off him, leaving him in his pants, the warm red liquid, most of it arterial, spilling off him and onto the asphalt. His vulpine green eyes were pained, dull and almost lifeless, partly due to the pain he was experiencing but mostly to the large purple-scaled bug cross reptillian creature he had strapped to his back.

Though he was tall, standing at seven-feet, his strength gave out and he collapsed before the steps leading upwards to the front entrance of the Fortress of Hera, stronghold of the Ultramarine chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. The steps were lined on both sides with two dozen of these superhuman warriors, adorned in their ornate armour holding standards carrying the emblem of Guilliman, the Omega symbol with the laurel wreath on them. They were unfazed that the neophyte had collapsed before the steps, knowing that he was must walk on his two feet if he want to live long enough to be made a true warrior of the Immortal Emperor of Mankind.

The man looked upward at the steps, a combination of uncertainty and nauseous gripping him tightly. The gene-seed he carried within him were yet to fully develop, allowing him for possibly the final time in his life to throw up, hands firmly on the ground as blood and bile intermixed with each other in front of him. He wiped his mouth of any remaining ejected fluid and gasped for breath, before attempting to stand up so he could begin climbing the steps.

The Space Marines present were beginning to see him as a wretched creature. Not because of where he came from, but that not even the neophyte that came before him looked this pitiful; and even he was more brutalised than he was, having lost both his eyes and his left arm to the Blood Trails that had made him a true Battle-Brother.

Sucking up the pain and focusing enough so that the pain-reducers in his body could take partial effect, he begun the slow, excruciating journey up the stairs towards the monastery Fortress of Hera. He ignored the floating servi-skulls that had camera attached to them, allowing possibly all of Ultramar to watch him at his lowest. Though he wished that the Marines lining the stairs would help him, he knew that was too good a fantasy to wish for, knowing full well he had to walk on his two partially broken feet.

Soon he was halfway up the stairs, when suddenly his viridian irises glazed over and he nearly toppled backwards, and almost fell back down the stairs. He quickly recovered from his split-second blackout and put his feet back firmly on the flat surface of the step he currently stood on, however, and continued his journey.

When he at least reached the top of the stairs, he found that no one was greeting him, except for the large doors that led into the sprawling Fortress of Hera. He smiled painfully as he believed his agony was close to an end. As he stepped towards the doorm he suddenly, the snap snapping of bone was heard he gave way, falling flat on his stomach, the Tyranid he had strapped to his back crushing him beneath it's weight.

Exhaling roughly, he suddenly narrowed his eyes as newly felt determination swept over him and picked himself up. Gritting his teeth he begun to limp towards the ornate cathedral-like door, high gothic written all over it and circling the Omega and Skull symbols. Placing his hands firmly on the door, not having time to read the gothic, he clenched his eyes shut as he looked upward at the night sky and screamed…

----------

_**Southern Fringes, Kew  
**__**Segmentum Pacificus  
**__**Lylat/Imperium Border**_

It was just shy half-a-light year from the human colony world of Kew there existed a tear in space the led into the alternate reality known as the Immaterium, or more commonly known as the Warp. It had the appearance of an Aurora Borealis, only that it was coloured various shades of crimson, those colours associated with any place relating to fire, brimstone and eternal suffering, which could be classified as Hell.

It was because of fate that the warp tear between the Lylatian/Imperium border, and it was the repercussions of said fate the directed the sleek, silvery Dreadnought-class Lylatian cruiser towards it. It gradually slowed down as it approached the tear, not wanting to go through it or, worse, be caught in one of the numerous warp storms bursting forth from it, which has the capability of tearing apart any vessel unwieldy enough to fly towards it.

It didn't take the sounds of the storms (for sound was impossible to generate in the airless vacuum that was space) to rouse the young orange furred, white-striped, green-eyed fox cub from his nap in his personal quarters on board the dreadnought. It was the vibrations and shockwaves that the storm generated that guided themselves across the blackness of space and over the Great Fox that did so. He felt his fur stood on end as he yawned and stretched his arms, before pulling the blankets off himself.

Remembering that he still had his casual wear on, consisting of a red shirt with the winged-fox insignia on the left right breast, blue shorts and white socks, the ten-year old adjusted the wrinkles and folds out of his clothes before shuffling over to the lavatory to do his business. Afterwards he stepped back out of the bathroom, and noticed the crimson light emanating between the gaps of the blinds across his window.

Eyebrows queered in curiosity, he stepped over towards the window across from his bed and pushed the button next to the window, the mechanism causing them to fold back to give the young cub a breathtaking view of the warp tear. His eyes were wide in awe and his mouth was agape as he pressed his hands against the window.

He smiled and said to himself, "Pops was right! This day will only get better…because it's my birthday!"

Tearing his socks off and replacing his feet with sandals, he bounded off the bed and towards the door, in his excitement forgetting that they were automated and running into it. Laughing at his own stupidly, he pushed the button next to the door and it opened. He shot out into the hallway and ran towards the bridge. In the process he nearly slammed into a nacho chomping slightly pump pig in his late thirties.

"Oi! Watch it, kid!" the pig grunted as he wiped hot sauce off his lips.

Still smiling, the pup said, "Sorry, Mr. Pigma. I need to find daddy and tell him that this the best birthday ever!"

Narrowing his eyes and smiling mirthlessly, Pigma pointed towards the door leading into the bridge and said, "Probably in there, kid! Now get outta my sight!"

"Ok!" Fox laughed.

Pigma watched as the pup ran towards the bridge door, shaking his head and frowning.

'Why'd the hell did you bring your spawn with you today, McCloud?' Pigma thought bitterly, "Tryin' to expose him to that shithole Segmentum Ultima?"

He then shrugged and chomped down the last of his bag of nachos.

'Guess the kid's gonna know these things. Thank fuck I don't plan on having any.'

----------

"Ah…James?"

"Yeah, Pep?"

"You're fidgeting again."

"Am I? Heh, hardly noticed."

The adult orange-furred vulpine shuffled in his seat slightly as he and a grey-rabbit sat before the holographic projector on the bridge, where situated behind it was the windows which gave them a much clearer, close-up view of the warp tear. Both men were in their early forties and dressed in their standard mercenary fatigues.

While Peppy looked reasonably calm, his companion was a different story. He could see that James McCloud appeared tense, indicated by the raised fur on his body and how he was rubbing his chin contemplatively.

"How close are we to the tear?" James queried.

Peppy checked the small computer built into the armrest of his chair.

"Close enough," Peppy said, "We should be able to pick up the signal broadcast they've set up for us."

James nodded, "They're taking a big risk doing it for us."

The rabbit closed his eyes and shook his head sadly, "_They've _just sat this up to torture you, James. Forgive me for saying this, but for the sakes of Vixy and Fox…"

He turned his chair so that he was facing James fully.

"…can't you just forget about him and hope Calgar can look out for him?"

James frowned and exclaimed heatedly, taking Peppy back some, "No!"

He quickly calmed down and sighed, looking at his friend apologetically.

"Watching and praying for him on possibly the worst day of his life is the least I can do for him," James replied, "I owe it to his mother."

"She's dead, James," Peppy reminded him, beginning to sound stern, "Cassius said so, remember?"

With sad, downcast eyes, James said quietly, "She saved my life. She saved me from Kryptmann. She saved me…from that evil bastard."

_Incoming live transmission,_ the feminine tone of voice relayed, _Source unknown._

James' eyes widened and turned to the holographic projector, "Patch it through to the bridge right now."

_Patching it through._

The holographic projector broadcasted jumbled, green static-filled images, much to James chagrin as he now leaned forward from his chair, clasped hands resting on his knees as he waited in anticipation for the images he so desperately sought after so long. Peppy glances varied between James and the holo-projector, where to his shame he hoped that they wouldn't be able to get an image, and then maybe James would finally be able to move on.

_Attempting to clean image._

James' eyes lit up and a small smile was etched on his face when the static gradually begun to fade, producing a colour image of a tall, young adult of a human male with a Tyranid strapped to his back and he appeared to be screaming into the air. James gritted his teeth when he couldn't see his face, the back view of the human what he could see. Peppy mouth was agape some…

"He's…he's grown up," Peppy bristled his chin, biting his lip as sympathy found it's way to his gut, "He…looks like he's in so much pain."

James didn't pay attention to Peppy, fixated only on the image.

"Please," he whispered eagerly, "Turn around. Let me see your face…David."

The bridge door opened and in ran an excited Fox…

"DAD! DAD!"

…nearly causing Peppy to jump with fright, but not James as he was busy looking at the holographic image of the mutilated human man. Peppy's eyes widened when Fox, gradually becoming less excited, stood near the door and wondered why his father wasn't paying attention to him and instead on hologram of a human 'demon.'

"Daddy?"

----------

_Let me see your face…David._

The young man froze in his place, no longer screaming from the intense pain and pressure being dealt to him. Upon hearing his real name he calmed down and begun to breathe easier, catching his breathe and recovering himself. He thought he heard the calm, gothic voice in his head, but remembered the servi-skulls watching him and so looked up at them.

Ignoring the pain, his relaxed state of mind allowing the pain-reducers to block out the agony, he stood up to his full height with the Tyranid still strapped to his back and looked up at the servitor which was looking down at his face. His face was that of a calm, eyes narrow and lips in a small crease as if he was obeying the voice he just heard.

After a few seconds of looking up at the servi-skull and turned towards the door, and with all his strength he pushed them open, a bright light immediately engulfing him as he stepped into the main hall of the fortress.

----------

James felt himself smile when 'David' looked up at the camera, appearing stoic and determined despite his bloody, torn appearance. Peppy looked between James and Fox incredulously, wondering how the human abomination present above the hologram-projector could draw his attention away from his son, and how much impact this would have Fox, this being the first time in his life seeing live-images of a human in the flesh.

Thinking fast, Peppy feigned anger the older vulpine. "Hey James!"

"Wha…?" James' head shot up, "Er…Pep?"

He looked over his shoulder, immediately horrified to find Fox standing there in the doorway. His head shot back towards Peppy, smiling maliciously at him with a glare.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten about the birthday boy?" Peppy queried.

Quickly catching on, James smiled widely and exclaimed, "Heck no, Pep."

He waved his hand across the holo-projector and the image faded away.

"And so for the hundredth time today…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FOX!"

Fox's bright smile returned and dashed towards James as he stood up from his seat and bent over, taking his son in a tight embrace, the vulpine cub wrapping his arms around his father's neck and laughing playfully. Peppy smiled at the tender sight, remembering the first time he brought his daughter Lucy on board the Great Fox for her first trip across the cosmos. She was five years at the time, and that fact made him slightly bitter, as James had waited another five years before taking Fox on his first voyage across Lylat and beyond.

Obviously James had wanted to spare his son from the harshness that was life as a mercenary and a space jockey for a few more years.

Pulling back from his father, Fox asked, "I thought you'd never take me with you on your trips, daddy."

James shrugged, "Yeah, well…it was about time you'd see that the universe is a big place."

He nodded his head enthusiastically, before he asked, "Hey dad."

"Yes, son?"

His smile faded again, "How come you were watching footage of that demon?"

Peppy's breath caught in his chest. Puzzled, James asked, "Demon, Fox?"

"You were watching a frazzled image of a hyoo-man," Fox pointed out, "Mom said they're demons, like the priest says on that…er…Religious Remi…Remi…er…._that_ priest's show on TV, y'know?"

Chuckling at his son inability to pronounce 'human' and 'reminisces', James nodded, "Yeah, I was watching a human on the holo-projector."

Eyebrows queered and head slanted in confusion, his bright eyes were large as he asked, "Why?"

James rolled his eye around in his head as he quickly thought of an answer, "Let's just say…I wanted to see for myself if they were what those Bible-bashers make them out to be?"

"Are they?" Fox kept on the inquisition, where the mere mention of _that_ word would have made both James and Peppy freeze in terror.

James smiled warmly, "I think they're just as frail, as confused and as curious as we are, son. They're just like us."

Noticing that Fox was still confused, James suddenly added in a humour laced voice…

"cept' they're hairless, eh?"

Fox giggled as James ruffled his hair, "Yeah."

James then took his son by the shoulder, still smiling, "Listen, why don't you meet me at the hangar bay. Feel like a ride in the Arwing with your old man."

"YEAH! AWESOME!"

And with that Fox took off like a bullet from an auto rifle, running out of the bridge. Peppy stared on bewildered at how James, still smiling at his son's direction, handled Fox's curious nature. He could have sworn that the cub was normally a very intelligent, bright little boy that had hundreds of questions and always played Grand Inquisitor on him and his parents.

Peppy cursed mentally. _That_ word would forever be ingrained into his mind and psyche.

_Attention. Holographic link to unknown source lost._

James smile faded and almost in a panic ran towards the projector, rapidly typing at the keypad built into it. When he realised that the feed was forever lost, he bellowed out a word that Peppy also had ingrained in his mind, but circumstances different.

"FUCK!"

----------

Fox wasn't too far from the bridge when heard his father curse out loud, the door into the bridge still open. He froze with fright upon hearing his father say that dirty word.

Thinking that there was no one around to hear him repeat the word to himself, he sampled the word…

"Fuck?"

He heard a sneer and turned to see Pigma watching him from the door into the mess room, glaring down at him.

He then turned around and back into the mess, muttering, "Kid's and their language nowadays. Fuckin' disgrace."

----------

James collapsed back into his seat, covering his face with his left hand as he rested his elbow on the armrest. Peppy looked on, weariness on his face.

"I'm sorry, James," Peppy stated.

James peeked through his fingers at Peppy, then nodded. Message received.

"I've got to ask," the rabbit continued, "Why did you bring Fox with you today?"

James slouched in his seat and shrugged, "It was his birthday, and Vixy said I was beginning to see him less than I normally do…and she's right."

He then smiled.

"Think of this as making up for the last three birthdays I've missed."

Peppy sounded serious next he asked, "She doesn't know you were coming out here?"

"I made Pepper and Border security swear into silence," James declared, "On account of the last few jobs we did for the hound."

Peppy got up from his seat, stretched, and walked over to the large window and observed the warp tear quietly, taking in it's hellish visage before turned back to James, still seated and looking at Peppy. The mask of happiness that he had worn in front of Fox all but cracked now. It was replaced with that of sadness.

"I wish I could have done more for him, y'know," James lamented, arms crossed and eyes downcast, "With Lucille and Eden gone, he's got no one now."

Peppy scratched his head, now feeling sad himself.

"I never thought I'd ever say this in a million years ago. He's still got you," the rabbit said, "Even if he doesn't know."

James growled, "Don't remind me. Vixy was also right when she mentioned I was starting to become a distant father…"

Peppy suddenly growled, "Don't even go _there_, James!"

"FORGET it, Pep," James closed his eyes and sighed loudly, "I couldn't protect Lucille from Kryptmann. Couldn't protect her son from Kryptmann. He really does have no one left."

Beginning to feel exasperated, Peppy mentioned, "He's not _your_ son, James. You know that, right?"

James snorted sadly, "I know he's not."

----------

The Lord Macragge of Ultramar, Marneus Augustus Calgar, watched from the balcony overlooking the entrance way into the Fortress of Hera, dozens of Battle-Brothers and twice that many number of Neophytes standing on parade from both sides of the doorway as they awaited the arrival of the latest hopeful Initiate. The doors were pushed open and in stepped a blood-soaked, heavily muscled young man with a Tyranid strapped to his back.

He knew that gift was David's, no, _Jacques'_ if he could manage the next few steps towards the centre of the room. Calgar watched as David/Jacques limped towards the centre of the room, where imprinted on the floor was the laurel omega symbol. When his feet touched the centre, he looked upwards, eyes scaling over the gothic interiors of the fortress' great hall towards the Lord Macragge. With no emotion on his face, his eyes seemed to stare right through Jacques as if expecting something from him.

Jacques seemed to understand as he unlatched the Tyranid from his back and letting it fall off him and onto the ground. No longer feeling any amount of pain Jacques knelt on one knee, bowed his head and stretched his arms wide across, as if ready to accept whatever was coming to him. Calgar looked to his left towards another door, which creaked open and out stepped a procession of blue-robed, techno-augmented priests, led by the Master of Sanctity Cassius himself.

This holy detachment surrounded itself around Jacques, still kneeling before the Lord Macragge. To Calgar, everything became a blur as he looked upwards with pride at the Imperial double-headed Aquila symbol on the ceiling of the hall, smiling to himself as he paid no attention to Jacques' induction into this brotherhood, but rather to just listen to Cassius as he did so himself…

"Jacques Jeán Mortensen…accept Immortality as a Battle-Brother of the Ultramarines, Chosen warrior of the Immortal Emperor of Man. Your life up to this pivotal point is now nothing but a shadow. From this point on, you will stand firm against the enemies of mankind, and you will serve it until the day you die in battle."

"Battle-Brother Mortensen…this is your rebirth…this is your calling…your destiny. Courage and Honour!"

----------

**Cliffside Obvervation Area,  
****Venom, ****Lylat System**

_**999.M41**_

The young blue-furred, blue-eyed vixen felt tears in her eyes as she and the brown-haired, green-eyed, late-thirties yet physically younger Aegis Armoured Grey Knight continued to hold each other in an embrace. Though she still felt discomfort from her previously broken arm having been rapidly healed thanks to Cornerian science and medicine yet still in a sling, it was something she would put up with just so she can be comforted and to give comfort in return.

Compared to the eight foot tall daemon-warded warrior in runic-covered armour, the vixen was small in comparison to him, but that didn't impede her expression of affection towards him in any meaningful way. She knew what laid ahead for the both of them and everybody else they cared for, and remembering everything that he had told her relating to his tragic-filled past, she couldn't help but cry for him.

He noticed and frowned, "Krystal?"

"Jacques."

"Are you crying?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"After everything that's happened to you, you've never shed a single tear. So I'm crying for you."

He smiled and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

"There is not point in dwelling on the past," Jacques said, "It is done. There is only the present, and soon thereafter the future."

He then whispered, causing her eyes to widen…

"But nonetheless: Thank you."

With that, Krystal smiled as well. And then she believed that although they were still in this blood-soaked universe, the remainder of the day would be a tolerable one.

So long as she had him and he had her.

* * *

In case you were wondering the title of this chapter is based off _**Nine Inch Nails'**_ song '**The Day the World Went Away' **which I believe the lyrics perfectly convey how someone close to Jacques' must feel about him.


	2. Chapter 1: Faded Brotherhood

**Disclaimer: See the Prologue**

Edits made: Size of Traitor Marine's sword.

* * *

Chapter 1 – Faded Brotherhood

* * *

_  
Speak not too well of one who scarce will know himself transfigured in its roseate glow; Say kindly of him what is, chiefly, true, remembering always he belongs to you; Deal with him as a truant, if you will, But claim him, keep him, call him brother still!_**  
- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) American author and poet. **

"I am watching the vid screens on the wall, General Hare. Through them I see nothing but taint."

"You can see that past almost an endless amount of death and destruction, Lord Macragge?"

"Those terms are associated _with_ taint. The taint drives man and beast-xeno to turn against themselves. The taint that _is_ Chaos."

Dressed smartly in his usual red military uniform, General Peppy Hare stood beside the Lord Macragge himself as they watched on the large wall screen almost a hundred smaller vid images of Lylat under siege from Lylat. These included Chaos Marines of the World Eater's storming a Cornerian army base as the sun went down from the planet's sky, blood-lusting Bezerkers up in front chopping up Cornerian army personnel with their consecrated chains-axes. Also another Tzeentchian cultists raiding on of Fortuna's numerous walled city's, rushing down the street hurling chained lightning at anything and anyone that moved.

Calgar noticed Peppy watching the Fortuna 'City #1' vid screen and noted, "Can there be any doubt that Ahriman is amongst his brethren again? Thought I can imagine once he is of no use to them they will turn on him immediately."

Peppy nodded, then said, "The fighting on Katina…that is…intense. The enemy has tried to knock out the surveillance cameras broadcasting, it's as if they want us to watch them wage war."

"Such is the machinations of Khorne," Calgar explained, "He desires all to see him coming forward to bring death to the good and faithful."

Peppy looked over at him, a worn expression on his face, "The good and faithful being those that worship the Emperor of Mankind, you mean?"

Calgar smirked, "Let the common man venerate him in his own misguided way, lest he not put his faith in him at all."

Calgar then left the large vid chamber through the automatic metal doors just as a Tau Ethereal dressed in his normal ceremonial gown and a Venomian simian in his late twenties dressed in flight uniform walked past him. They saw Peppy alone standing in the centre of the chamber and facing the vid-screen dominated wall, watching the broadcasted destruction of Lylat quietly.

Praetor of Venom Dash Bowman and Aun'shi of Vior'la sept stepped into the room.

"General Hare," Aun'shi said, sounding modest, "Would you like to be amongst more…hospitable company?"

Peppy turned to face the pair and smiled lightly. Taking it as an invitation, Aun'shi and Dash stepped into the room. As they approached Peppy…

"If I may be blunt, General," Dash commented, "Normal people wouldn't spend their down time watching the galaxy burn."

He then appeared wry.

"General Alexander, or Governor-Militant Alexander…did report that the Academy on Fichina has been secured," Dash said as he took a seat in front of the screen, watching the old hare still standing there, silently, "He reported that the heads of education and operations were all safe and sound."

"I know that, Praetor Bowman," Peppy said, "Since you have no kids, I can't blame you for being subtle about it."

Aun'shi elected to stand beside Peppy rather then take a seat.

"I can not blame you for your paternalistic nature," the Ethereal said, "Yet, the Preator is correct. Reports indicate that the Fichina Academy is under Coalition control, henceforth she is alright."

Peppy nodded, appreciative of Aun'shi concern, "I know that, Honoured Ethereal."

It then suddenly faded.

"Did you come here for a reason?"

Dash nodded and straightened his back, "Things aren't going well on the home front. There's being reports that the local population, _our _local population, are clashing with Cornerian refugees over supplies, which are rapidly fading if I may add; and some armed military personnel from both sides are supporting them."

"Clashing?" Peppy asked, "Care to define that?"

"Riots, violence, unrest," Dash continued, frowning, "The fact that the human Children of Eden and the Kronus 1st Regiment is assisting with crowd control adds to it. They're afraid…"

"I know," Peppy grimaced, "The best we can do is put this down as quickly and as bloodlessly as possible, then try to make everyone realise that, for better or worse, humanity is here and we're fighting a common foe."

He then suddenly tapped his wrist mounted communicator.

"Command control, this is Hare."

_Yes, sir._

"Send communication to Admiral Hancock, Colonel O'Reilly, Lord Admiral Nero, General Sturnn, General Alexander, Commander Farsight and every other Lylatian commanding officer in com range," Peppy instructed authoritatively, "I'm requesting a holo-conference and status reports in one way."

_At once, sir._

He then switched off the com, and once again turned to his compatriots in leadership.

"I already know that we won't be any better off after a week," Peppy admitted, now smiling sadly, "But if we can find some way to stop Abaddon from progressing any further out of Lylat, then maybe we will able to start pushing him back to Hell he flew out of it."

Dash crossed his arms, "I'm all for it, General."

Aun'shi sounded determined as well, "As am I."

----------

The sounds of laughter, cursing, heavy drinking, brawling and general debauchery didn't bode well for La'Tash of T'au as he sat in the booth he shared with the young human male, who sat cross-legged and calmly sipping from a glass of ginger ale. Also the that he was out of uniform and armour and dressed the same way as his human companion was also to him a let down. They both wore trenchcoats and had hoods over their heads, which for the blueskin Tau it covered his face and braid completely, while for the human male he actually had his hood down, revealing his short dark-blond hair, blue eyes and synthetic left ear to the atmosphere around him.

"You look nervous, Tash," the young human male said to his Tau companion, noticing his clasped hands on the table in between them, his fingers twitching, "And it is not even time for the operation to begin."

Tash rubbed the side of his head, "Please remind me again how we got here again, Shas'ui Jakob."

Gue'vesa'Shas'ui Jakob looked at him questioningly, eyebrow raised, "After accepting our assignment from the Honoured Ethereal we returned to Titania upon hearing rumours of a smuggler operation. We posed as a pair of mercenaries and infiltrated them. We then accompanied them here to Sargasso…"

La'Tash snapped his fingers interrupting, "Gah…Jakob, that is not what I meant. I mean…why are sitting here drinking in this bar, fraternising with these…"

He then lowered his voice.

"…these…undesirables?" he hissed.

Jakob frowned, "We have been here for a couple of days already and our movements have only been restricted to the hotel area in between recon missions. Today I felt like exploring this little den of thieves…"

Tash cringed slightly when Jakob made no effort to lower his voice.

"…and see first hand what will soon be…dealt with."

Luckily no one overheard Jakob's little speech amidst the happenings going on in the pub. Tash couldn't help but silently marvel at Jakob's lack of fear and complete calmness over a possibly stressful assignment.

At that Tash smiled behind his hood, then asked, "You don't show any fear at all, gue'la. Exactly the reason why you are not wearing a hood over your head."

The human shrugged and gulped the last of his ale down, then wiped his mouth and suppressed a belch, "They must deal with humans, the smugglers. I have heard their influence stretches as far as Kew…"

His watch suddenly beeped and he froze, slightly afraid. He prayed his wasn't time for him to take his medicine, yet. To his relief, however, it was device strapped to his right arm, which had a MISSION COUNTDOWN timer going….

"Ten minutes until we begin operation," Ui'Jakob announce to his Tau friend, patting his arm and standing up from the booth, "Let's go."

La'Tash nodded he too stood up from the booth. As they walked towards the exit leading into the station's main plaza, a hurled empty bottle smashed right next to them on the wall. Tash jumped out of the way just in time, while Jakob stood there in the doorway, frozen.

"Oi, skinny…where you going, boy?"

Ui'Jakob frowned and looked over his shoulder to find a small gang of leather wearing canines approaching him and Tash. Everybody else present stopped what they were doing to witness the hostile exchange, the pub owner already breathing hard with anxiety behind the bar counter. Ui'Jakob turned to fully face them, the gang consisting of a Bulldog, a Chihuahua, a Labrador and a Rottweiler. The Rottweiler appeared to be the head of this pack, grinning maliciously.

"You've got a quite a nerve, boy, to just stroll into this here bar like you own it," the Rottweiler growled, "You and your little blueskin buddy here."

Ui'Jakob glanced over La'Tash, before answering, "We didn't know were not welcome here, canine. I thought if we weren't wanted the pub owner would have told us to leave."

"Yeah," the pub owner, a middle-aged hippopotamus in a greasy smock said, "Lay off em', Johns. They ain't done nothin…"

"Shuddup, old man," the Rottweiler known as Johns barked at him, "You still owe me fifty, remember? Wanna make it a hundred?"

The hippo kept quiet. The Rottweiler turned back to Jakob, blood and hatred in his eyes. Jakob seemed unfazed as Johns stinking breath was on his face, as they looked one another in the eye.

"You asshole skinnies think you can just fly your high-and-might butts here and order everyone to get in line to fight those other fucking skinnies tearing Corneria to shreds?" Johns questioned drunkenly, "The fuck is up with you, boy?"

Still looking him in the eye, Ui'Jakob answered, "We're not ordering you around, canine. We are you allies. Humanity of the Imperium and the humanity side by side with the Tau. We fight for the Greater Good…"

"The Greater Good…" the Labrador laughed, "The hell kinda crap is that?"

Ui'Jakob felt his left eye twitch, but through his training and mental discipline he refrained from experiencing anger. The Rottweiler glanced over at the Labrador and smirked.

"Yeah," Johns cried, "Boy, the hell is it with you and religion?"

Jakob was now frowning again, "It is not religion. It is a single, unifying ideal extending to every species that draws breathe…"

The Bulldog looked at him, astounded, "Aw great…we got a damn bible basher in here."

Rottweiler gnashed his teeth and grabbed Ui'Jakob by the scruff of his coat, "Boy, we don't want your kind here and anywhere else on this station. The hell you got on board…"

"I am not a boy."

John's eyes widened, and growled again, "What?"

Still frowning, Ui'Jakob reiterated, "I am not a boy, I am a man. So stop referring to me as such."

The whole pack roared in laughter, and some of the pub goers also joined in. The tavern owner didn't seem all that impressed at Johns' condescending remarks.

"Heh, Johns," the Chihuaha giggled, "You got him by the coat and he's still givin' ya lip. Cut his tongue out, why don't ya?"

Laughing and looking over his shoulder to the agreeing nods of his accomplices, Johns nodded, "Yeah…why don't I…AWWKK!"

In a flash, Ui'Jakob shot his left hand forward into John's mouth and grabbed his tongue, stretching it out of his mouth and causing him to let go of Jakob. The rest of the pack immediately stopped laughing and pulled out their blasters. The tavern owner and the rest of the pub goers ducked for cover as Jakob raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist, wrist-blades appearing out the side and primed for combat.

"Unless I cut _your_ tongue out first," Ui'Jakob said.

La'Tash looked at him incredulously, and could not blame him for standing up for himself so abruptly.

'Never disrespect the Greater Good,' he thought, 'Especially in front of the Shas'ui'

As Ui'Jakob inched the blade near John's throat, he thought bitterly…

'Hopefully Team Star Fox is faring better than we are. Fox, Krystal…hopefully we will not be apart for much longer…'

----------

The streets of the Lylatian city which burned in the night sky were desolated, the metal roadway cracked and partially melted. No form of transport was present here save the wreckage of Cornerian-produced automobiles. No one walked on these roads or the adjacent footpaths, only their corpses, which laid mostly on their fronts, as if they had tried to flee from what caused this destruction. The scrunched up, contorted faces suggested that they saw something horrible, something unnatural.

Something Chaotic.

The lone orange-furred, white-fringed fox stood in the middle of he ruined street. He stood at around 5'4 with green eyes atypical for the vulpine kemono race. He was clad in a white armour vest over a green/red flight suit; which was partially modified with steel-armour plating on his shoulders and knees. He wore his usual set of boots, only that the soles were completely blackened as a result of prolonged fighting.

Suggesting he hadn't slept in a lone while, his eyes were partially reddened with slight bags underneath them. Yet he managed to keep his eyes open as well as his balance, holding the silver-encrusted omega symbolised power sword tightly in his left hand, holding the blade so that the point was on the ground. His eyes were peered down the street and the way he moved slowly with utter caution he knew that any second now his enemy would reveal himself.

He tried to not think of anything except where he was and what could appear at any time, knowing his foe read his thoughts and body language; and one slip of either could be considered an opening for him to strike. With the enemy statistically more powerful than him, a single blow would mean his end. For he was a physically normal, unmodified, untainted Lylatian vulpine and his enemy's superior strength, agility, reflexes and senses were thousands and thousands of years in the making. A vicious, almost unnatural hybrid of physical conditioning and mental indoctrination transforming him into the perfect weapon.

The vulpine's mind drifted as he thought about those well-known facts about the superhuman, giving his enemy an opening…

"McCLOUD!"

…whom shrouded by a black cloak which covered his massive power armoured frame erupted from within a partially damaged transport van to the side of the road and swung his massive black sword, his cape flowing behind him as if he was a demon. Reflexively, the vulpine raised his sword to guard against this surprise attack. The sheer force of the foe's superior strength behind his sword sent the vulpine flying.

"WAAAAH!"

He fell onto his back, rolled over and landed on his front, his sword falling two feet away from his left hand's reach. He groaned and looked at his foe, wiping his mouth of blood and saliva. Studying him, he looked like the typical Chaos Space Marine, equipped in black-coloured Mark 5 'Heresy' Power Armour. The left pauldron had the yellow eight-pointed star symbol with a red eye in the middle while the helm bared a topknot on top of it – the colour and insignia of the Black Legion Traitor Legion.

The helm's eyeports glowed red, and Fox McCloud didn't need to look past them to notice the Chaos Marine had blood in the eye, so to speak. The sword he carried was about six feet tall and two inches thick, big enough to slice anything biological in half. Fox had been weary about going up against another one of these monstrosities. Though his skills in swordsmanship had improved drastically since last year, he could only hold his ground long enough for help to arrive.

Raising his sword, the Chaos Marine charged. Fox quickly got up, grabbed his sword and took a defensive stance. His foe swung his heavy sword, prompting Fox to dodge sideways by rolling. Believing he caught him off guard, Fox thrust the point of his sword towards the Marine's side, but the Marine quickly raised his right arm and blocked his strike, then slapped Fox's sword away then sent him off target and back onto the ground. The Marine then stood above him, taking the moment to study his prey.

Fox's sword had the misfortune of being out of hand's reach, and so rolled onto his back to brace himself for hid death blow, gritting his teeth and frowning intensively. The Marine brought his sword down towards him, intent on splitting the vulpine's head into two.

His sword was only an inch away from Fox's forehead when it stopped, barely grazing his headfur. Fox felt blood begin to trickle out his nose as he concentrated intensely on making sure the blade wouldn't touch him by using his mind…and his most extraordinary gift. The Chaos Marine grunted as he gripped the sword hilt tighter to try and breach this invisible field Fox erected between himself and his sword, but to no avail.

Shouting with exertion, Fox mentally pushed the sword away from his face with force and causing the Chaos Marine to stagger backwards, balancing only on his right leg. Fox rolled over and grabbed his sword, charging the Chaos Marine….

"RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

…and piercing him through the stomach region, the sword going out the other end through his back. But strangely, the blade wasn't covered in the Chaos Marine's blood, nor was it dripping out onto the ground from the entry wound. But the Chaos Marine groaning, falling to his knees, downcast his head and letting his sword drop was enough to let Fox know he had brought him down.

Fox sighed out loud and turned his back on the defeated Marine, putting a hand over his face to cover his smile. A smile that pointed out he had gone up against a Traitor Astartes by himself and won. That smile faded when suddenly he felt a steel gauntlet grab him by his left ear…

"ARGHH! OWWW!"

…and lifted him upwards, causing him to dangle before him with his back still turned to him. The Marine was now standing, Fox's sword still embedded in his gut and protruding out the other end. The Traitorous Marine of the Black Legion clenched his right fist, inching it toward Fox's spine. He then brought his fist and arm backward behind himself, preparing to deliver blunt force death.

"OW! OW! OWWW! NO…FAIR!" Fox shouted in pain, "I… KILLED YOU!"

He then felt a slight tap on his back, courtesy of the Chaos Marine who had feigned preparation of a deathblow. The vulpine then heard the Chaos Marine speak in High Gothic, in a voice so familiar to him it normally put him at ease…

"Vos verto vestri tergum in mihi. Nunquam sapiens res efficio, acsi vestri inimicus est in suus genua quod suus mucro est ex suus manus manus."

The Chaos Marine dropped him on his ass and pulled the sword out of his gut. The sword appeared to phase out of his body, not inflicting any physical damage at all when it had pierced him, having phased through him. Fox rubbed his swore left ear as he groaned quietly in pain, obviously annoyed. He yelped in surprise when the Chaos Marine dropped the sword close to his arm, cluttering onto the floor before it suddenly dissipated into pixels and vanished.

"Terminate simulation," Fox grunted as he stood up, now rubbing his sore backside with his right hand, the Chaos Marine still standing behind him, behaving harmless.

The Burning City simulation ended, reverting back to the default light blue décor of the now empty Simulator. The holographic projection around the Chaos Marine faded as well, revealing him for what he truly is: A brown-haired, thirty-year-old human male, though with a seven-shaped scarred on his face he had with him natural charisma that may stem from his unique vulpine-like green eyes.

He was adorned in his Grey Knight Aegis Armour – that special kind of armour only the members of the daemon-hunting psychically-potent Astartes Chapter wore. Incorporating many features from previous Power Armour designs including the backpack containing the armour's power system, however it's main draw was it's anti-daemonic runes and symbolism, capable of warding off and harming the daemon and other malevolent beings of Chaos that came near the wearer. It was this armour that added to Jacques' aura of charisma and heroic reputation.

Though at the moment Fox didn't exactly think of him as such.

"What did you say to me?" Fox asked, finally stopping him from rubbing his sore behind.

Jacques looked at him, raising his eyebrow and slanting his head as if confused by what he said. To him, Fox had just spoke to him in a different language, which sounded awfully lot like animalistic mumbling.

"Quid, McCloud?"

Fox's eyes widened as he heard Jacques continue to speak in gothic. He then tapped his left ear which consequently had his earpiece automatic translator housed. He took it out, examined it, and flicked it a couple of times, before putting it back in his ear.

"What did you say?" Fox asked again, "Just as you were tearing my ear off?"

This time, to Jacques, Fox spoke clearly and in his own tongue. And when Jacques responded, it was in his own Lylatian tongue as well.

"I said: 'You turned your back on me. Never a wise thing to do, even if your foe is on his knees and his sword is out of his hand,'" Jacques answered, "And turning your back in such a likely position where he would easily back up is unlike you, McCloud."

Fox turned around to look at him, "You said 'first to impale' wins, remember? We agreed on that!"

Jacques smirked, crossed his arms and stepped forward towards Fox, as if imposing himself over the smaller vulpine, "Deception is a part of warfare, vulpine. For not remembering such wisdom what I did can be considered penance on your part."

He paused, then continued.

"Though your use of your 'gift' is noteworthy."

Glaring at Jacques, Fox shot back, "If it weren't for the safeties being engaged I'd think you were really going to cleave me in half, Jacques. I'd call it instinct."

"Yet very resourceful. I have never tried balancing on one foot before as a result. But still…"

The Grey Knight was still smiling.

"You were in need of penance, and I decided to be playful about it."

Rubbing his ear one last time, Fox still glarring up at him and dead panned, "Lifting me skyward by my ear and dropping me on my ass is considered 'playful' penance?"

Jacques dropped his own simulated Chaos daemon sword that faded back into pixels before it touched the ground, "Normally penance is to deny you your rations for the day, or a predetermined amount of lashings. Would you prefer either?"

Fox stared at him blankly, the thinned his eyes and smirked.

"If I was you, I would."

Jacques shook his head as Fox turned his back to him once again and stretched his limps.

"_She_ would not want that," Jacques pointed out, "For either of us to hurt ourselves."

Fox froze at that statement, eyes quivering slightly as he remembered someone he believed he now lost. He scrunched up his face and rubbed his left hand across his face, sighing into it. The Grey Knight was now frowning at the vulpine, his eyes appearing to pierce through his furred hide and into his soul. Fox felt shivers go up and down his spine, and he felt furious as a result.

"Don't…mention…_her_, Jacques," Fox felt enraged at the Grey Knight, "For God's sake…just drop it already."

"McCloud?" Jacques' tone of voice sounded stern.

Fox looked over his shoulder, keeping his anger in check as he replied, "You've been calling me McCloud all since last week. You can't still be mad at me."

Jacques now sounded softer, almost pleading, as he uncrossed his arms.

"Have you considered…?"

Fox turned to full face him, a mixture of annoyance and anger evident on his face, "I already did…the first time you asked me, a week ago. Krystal is off the team until further notice…that is, when I _notice_ Chaos is out of Lylat for good."

He raised his voice at him, causing Jacques to widen his eyes in surprise at his outburst.

"Now for fuck's sake don't ask me again if I want to take Krystal back…"

He stopped when he saw Jacques now staring solemnly at him.

"…on the team, I mean!" Fox finished.

A silence washed over the both of them as they stood there in the empty simulator, Fox immediately regretting raising his voice to his friend while Jacques felt no regret in trying to, to him, bring Fox to his senses regarding a certain blue vixen that both men held dear to themselves. Fox rubbed his hearfur as he looked down.

He exhaled sadly, "I…I'm sorry, Jacques. It's been a week since that perverted hellhole…just, please…"

Jacques nodded understandingly.

"I understand, and I apologise as well," Jacques said as he walked past Fox towards the exit, "But let me say this…"

He paused as he opened the door.

"You can not keep an eye on her all the time," he explained, "And since you no longer any authority over her, if she wants to fight and finds some other way of joining the battle besides this float of Lylatian metal then you must respect that."

Still downcast, Fox waved his hand tiredly at him, the effects of sleeplessness starting to wear him down.

"Whatever."

Jacques left Fox alone in the simulator, where just as the door closed as he suddenly collapsed onto the ground, his exhausted body having finally given way. The vulpine did not object to his heavy eyelids closing, and soon fell asleep after four days of non-stop training, all to steel himself the moment the person he would never admit he depended would not be around to help him.

----------

Lying beneath the elevated Arwing star fighter on a rollable platform, the green frog wiped his greasy hands on the sides of his teal jumpsuit, before he picked up the spanner and begun to close and screw shut the hatch which had revealed the G-Diffuser of the starfighter. He was much relieve to finally be able to finish four hours worth of work on their three starfighters. It would have been six hours if their fourth fighter hadn't been totalled beyond all repair; and he knew that for certain as he had been the person behind the controls.

Finishing up, he quickly rolled himself up from underneath the fighter and stepped over to the wash sink situated at the far end corner of the hangar, which was used to clean up and sterilise following time dedicated to maintenance. Rolling back the suit that covered his arms, he washed his hand thoroughly before glancing at himself in the mirror.

He visibly winced when he saw the facially scarred frog stare at him back through the mirror, and immediately felt sick. He raised his still moist left hand to his face, the scars looking as if he had attacked by a wild animal, where in reality he had been thrown through the canopy window of his now totalled Arwing. He looked sadness as he traced a finger across one of his scars.

He noticed a small light suddenly flicker in the darkness of the partially lit hanger behind him, causing him to almost jump in fright as he did not notice someone else had been with him the whole time. When that someone opened his beak to speak, it confirmed his presence…

"Y'know, staring at yourself in the mirror ain't gonna change the fact you flew out of your Arwing and landed near a fountain, Slip. You are, and always will be, a kitty scratch post."

Slippy grimaced as _that someone _chuckled at his own attempt at humour.

He turned around to stare towards the darkness, "And how long have you being watching me slave under the Arwings, Falco?"

Slippy heard feet touch the hangar floor, _that someone_ having apparently sat on a crate, before hearing footsteps then seeing a blue avian falcon in his late twenties dressed in a black flightsuit step into the light. A lit cigarette dangled in the left side of his mouth and a whole pack of the Lupine-manufactured cancer sticks was in one of his left pockets. Slippy's eyes widened at the sight of him, never seeing his friend appear before him as such.

Falco Lombardi, Ace Pilot of the Star Fox, had noticed that Slippy some of the colour in his slight portly amphibian companion face and skin had faded following that great battle on MacBeth, giving him a sickly, light green appearance. He reasoned that the stress was getting to him, and he knew Slippy knew it was getting to him as well.

"You look like shit, Toad," Falco grouched, exhaling smoke out of the nostrils in his beak, "Seriously, man. Like something that came out of a skinny's ass."

Ignoring his hurtful comment, Slippy made his way towards the Arwings where Falco was leaning against his fighter. The canopy into the Arwing next to Falco's opened and Slippy climbed into it.

"You here to make fun of me, Falco?" Slippy asked as he started pushing button on the flight console, "Or are you here to give me a hand?"

Falco shrugged, "You look like you're all set here, pal. I'm surprised you haven't taken the Bullfrog out of for a spin yet."

The frog rolled his eyes in annoyance as he activated the Arwing, powering all systems, "Still experimental, Falco. Amanda's still working out the bugs with the weapons."

"Yeah, speaking of Amanda…" Falco smiled.

"We're _fine_," Slippy replied loudly, not caring that the Arwing powered down suddenly and the port cover over the G-Diffuser was suddenly blown off as the systems failed, "Darn!"

He leapt out and walked towards the broken port cover, wincing slightly as it felt hot to touch.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about Katt?" Slippy suddenly strapped on some gloves, before picking the cover up, "Did you two manage to get over that serious blow-out you had?"

Falco shrugged again, eyes downcast sadly as he now sat on the ground against his Arwing.

"She said she wanted some space," Falco answered, drawing a sympathetic glance from Slippy, "And I'm givin' it to her."

Slippy stared at him for a few, quiet moments then sighed sadly.

"Awwww…the team can't go through another break up in the same month."

Falco glared over at him, "I said _space_, Slippy, not _break_…big difference. No way in hell I'm ever letting _her_ go."

"Have you ever told her that?" Slippy inquired, "Isn't that the problem? That you two don't open up to each other enough?"

"Don't push it, seriously," Falco hissed quietly as he removed his cigarette from his mouth and tapped some ash away from it onto the ground, "Sorry I ever started talking to you."

Slippy looked even sadder at the downtrodden avian, then started thinking of saying something low-key to change the subject.

He breathed softly out his nose and said, "You started smoking?"

Falco shook his head, closed his eyes and chuckled, "No point in clean living. If we're not shooting ourselves up with morphine, we're smoking. If we're not smoking, war and Chaos makes us dirty inside anyway."

He paused, then smiled wider.

"_Chaos_, as in the big bad guys in power armour riding on even bigger, badder hellspawn."

Slippy couldn't help but smile at Falco wry attempt at philosophy. It was ver eerily close to the truth when it now comes to Lylat's war against the Ruinous Powers of the Dark God of Chaos, their legions of corrupted superhumans, dark religious cults and daemonic hordes their instruments of death, destruction and unholiness.

"Just what I was thinking, Falco."

----------

The mood on the Great Fox II and how it's members spoke and treated one another was bleak, but who can dare blame them? It was only a week since the collective Lylatian news networks and media dubbed the Chaos War begun and the mood and feelings of everybody fighting and suffering in this war was, understandably, horrible. Lylatian – Dog, vulpine, ape, badger and other assorted furry anthropomorphic; human and superhuman fought side by side against the dark tides coming from the now daemon world of Corneria, holding them back and keeping them from occupying any more worlds and preventing more mass sacrifice.

So far Chaos only held the planets outlying Corneria – Katina, Fortuna and several smaller civilised and resort worlds, plus several Cornerian Army defence platforms and stations. The Cornerian forces within that zone were completely routed – either destroyed, sacrificed or turned traitor; the evil that was Chaos finding its' way into the Cornerian soldier's hearts and promising them their deepest, darkest desires in exchange for loyalty.

But fortunately that wasn't the case for the troops sitting in the transport starship following close behind the Great Fox II. The members of the 4th Cornerian Naval Assault Brigade, trained to deal with altercations amongst the stars where it's troops were from most of the civilised worlds in the system, were stalwart as they prepped themselves for battle once again.

In the deployment bay situated near the hold of the transport craft, the soldiers readied themselves. Equipped in near-skin tight specialised green armour which covered their whole bodies with the 4th logo on their right shoulder plating and the Cornerian army insignia on their left shoulder plating, they were each in small groups as they prepped themselves. Their armament ranged from advanced blaster rifles, machine guns, EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) and stun grenades. They were also reviewing the upcoming mission, browsing over their individual squad order just given to them five minutes.

However one of the soldiers kept her distance away from the rest of the platoon. Sitting with her back against some crates, she could easily be set apart from the rest of the platoon as the armour from her arms and legs were missing, revealing only skin-tight green spandex normally worn underneath armour. The back of her head including hair and ears were covered in spandex and her bio-filter mask obscured her face. Her tail was also covered in spandex as well.

What drew attention to her from a couple of the other squads was that her choice of weaponry was a silenced Imperial-forged autogun. The skull motif on the side of the gun made a few of the other soldiers predictable uneasy.

One of the canine soldiers whispered to his squadmate, "Hey, get a load of the FNG with the skinny rifle."

His companion, another dog, nodded and sneered, "Too good to hang around with the men, ain't good enough for a blaster. Has to settle for a Imperial slugger."

Another passing soldier, a grey aardvark, overheard their conversation and hissed at them.

"You tryin' to get us on report?" he sounded nervous, "What d'ya think Command added her to this op at the last minute?"

"Why?"

"She's probably one of them Army Intelligence assassins," the aardvark reasoned, kneeling on the ground beside them, as to not attract attention, especially from _her_, "Y'know, those guys under orders from the General himself to eliminate the high-risk bastards? Heard one of them nailed that Ork warboss last year."

He stole a glance at the female soldier, eyes quivering slightly and unsettling the rest of the squad

"She's probably here to take out the motherfucker headin' up the smugglers," he explained, "And anyone here who looks like he'll turn traitor."

"Turn traitor? Why would they…?"

"Haven't you read the field reports?" another soldier chimed in, "It said about all those regiments joining the enemy. Whole bloody regiments being corrupted and all that shit by that Chaos junk. I heard the place we're heading to has guys trafficking artifacts for those devil-worshippers."

"What kind of artifacts?"

"The _worst_ kind. The kind I was just talking about."

They all shivered at the thought of going up against anything large, armoured, daemonic or anything remotely human. One of the soldiers noticed the assassin looking their way and immediately turned the other cheek, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. Though the Assassins of the Cornerian Military Intelligence Agency were not well liked by the ordinary soldier for the secrecy, it was never a good idea to draw their attention, unless you wanted to be under their scrutiny.

The assassin gazed at them, before slapping a magazine full of small calibre, caseless ammunition.

----------

"…so you are certain you can hold your position for at least another day?" Jacques stood before the holo-projector, "Governor-Militant Alexander?"

_It's just 'General' Alexander, Mortensen,_ the brown-haired forty-year old human in carapace armour over his uniform responded, _And yes, we can hold out against those disease-ridden heretics. The attacks have started to lessen since the Weather control device was damaged…_

Jacques frowned as the image started to become grainy, as if experience interference. Since Alexander was currently stationed on Fichina with the 3rd Battalion of the Cadian 412th Regiment, it came to no surprise.

"I am sorry, General," Jacques said apologetically, "We can not communicate for much longer.

Alexander nodded, _Understood, I'll keep this brief: The status of the alliance?_

"It is holding," Jacques answered, then added, "For the moment at least. We will be there to relieve you as soon as possible."

The general appeared grim, _Until then, make sure you keep the Children of Eden alive. The Kronus 1__st__ have invested too much in those alien-worshiping remnants._

"Do not fear," Jacques replied, "For the Emperor."

_In his name._

The image disappeared, leaving Jacques standing there in the middle of the bridge, being watched by Falco, ROB and Slippy who had been sitting at the opposite ends of the room, watching the exchange this entire time. The avian was smoking his fifth cigarette for the day while Slippy was playing around with his PDA - Personal Data Assistant, browsing through intel on the upcoming mission.

Jacques and Falco looked at him when he spoke fearfully, "Can't believe it's the same place we went to during the Aparoid Crisis. I don't think they'll be happy to see us again."

He almost jumped when Jacques growled angrily, "They should not, for they deserve death for what they have done."

Falco smiled, "I'm all for it. Seriously, what the hell do they think they'll get outta playing delivery boy for the rotting tin-cans?"

Slippy checked his PDA, "According to the statutes laid down by the Coalition: Death."

"You had to look _that_ up?" Falco deadpanned, "Seriously, Slippy…don't you get tired of being the comic re…?"

The bridge door open and Fox stepped in. Falco cut himself shut when he saw how bedraggled the vulpine looked.

"Enjoy your nap, Fox?" Falco asked him, "I noticed you were asleep on the simulator floor, but since you hardly slept much this past week…"

"Yeah, don't mention it," Fox grumbled, stretching himself gently, "ROB?"

"Online," the robot sprung to life as he walked over towards the console up at the front of the bridge.

"Pull up schematics of the Sargasso station."

"Affirmative."

The holo-projector broadcasted an image of the space station. Everyone present could see that it had changed a lot from the last time they sat foot on, quote Slippy, 'hideout for all sorts of criminals.' Those criminals being thieves, murderers, terrorists, smugglers…just to name a few. Fox looked crim, crossing his arms to see that the station appeared bigger, with several add-ons and extensions where the station could appear to house several hundred. It added defence turrets, missile pods and satellite dishes made it all the more imposing.

Falco tapped his beak, "I see they've made some major renovations. Looks like they managed to fit a shopping mall in there"

"Close enough at least," Slippy said, "The black market, a brothel, even a foot court."

He paused in order to swallow fear.

"Plus those defence guns…"

Jacques sneered and shook his head, "They will not protect them for long."

"What makes you so sure?" Falco inquired.

The Grey Knight caught a glimpse of him, then looked back at the projector and smirked, "For at this moment…the first blow shall be struck from the inside…"

----------

Smuggler boss Gambino, despite his amassed wealth in smuggling rare, exotic, often dangerous archaeological finds for nearly a decade dressed almost as plainly as any other Cornerian businessman. A purple-green kamodo dragon in a grey suit, tie and glasses, he walked through the main plaza of the station under escort by a team of all female vixen guards armed with black market smuggled autoguns. Gambino himself was armed with a 5mm stubpistol, which was holstered in his suit.

Ah…sir?

In his right ear was an earpiece communicator.

"Yes, Michelle?"

_You asked me to remind you of a few things on your docket,_ the female secretarial voice on the other side said, _The conference call has been moved to tomorrow, you have your three-fifteen with the eastern-fringe smugglers, and of course there is your two-thirty.  
_  
Gambino's eyes widened and he checked his rolex, "My two-thirty, oh dear…"

He shook his head and said to himself.

"…I have no idea where my head is these day."

As he passed by a certain tavern, the sliding door opened and out flew a Rottweiler who landed before Gambino's feet. Bloodied, bruised and his tongue feeling numb from being nearly ripped out of his mouth, Johns groaned as Ui'Jakob stepped out, wrists bloodied and a bruises on the left side of his face. He turned to his side to spit blood, where after wiping his mouth…

"Apologies for the mess, Boss Gambino," Jakob motioned down at Johns, "Not everyone is accepting of other creeds as you are."

Gambino nodded, appearing solemn, "That is a sad fact."

The smuggler then carried on his way, stepping over Johns and towards the main elevator, which took him and his escorts up to the highest level of the station. Tash stepped out of the pub next and noticed his companion looking up at the ascending elevator car, which could easily be seen through the flexi-glass shaft.

"Security station," Jakob said, "Defence emplacement control."

"Access through secured elevator," La'Tash added, "Heavily guarded."

"A way past them," Jakob continued as they walked through the plaza, "Through tight maintenance area through waste sector towards elevator shaft."

"Then we climb it?"

"Yes."

And so they set up accomplishing their mission, all the while Ui'Jakob silently wondering how someone like him could start to feel apathetic about the horrible world he inhabited. He was used to, desensitised even, to the sight of violence and debauchery and normally he would still think about the consequences of his actions and how it affected him and those around him…his friends and allies mostly. But just then when he had single-handedly beaten that gang of drunks into submission, first by grabbing the rottweiler by his tongue as if it was nothing and he, Ui'Jakob, was superior because he believed in the Greater Good. He didn't think about his actions at all, he just did it.

Ui'Jakob slapped his own forehead. He mentally referred to Johns as _it_, not him.

'I am sick at heart of war,' he thought bitterly to himself, 'I don't think I will truly be myself once it is over.'

----------

In the hangar Fox yawned as he climbed into the cockpit of the Arwing, fastening his iconic communication gear over his head. He tapped the mouthpiece…

"You guys here me?"

_Loud and clear Fox, _Slippy chirped over the com line, _We're heading to the hangar right now._

_Try not to fall asleep until we get there, alright Foxy? _Falco was snide was again, _You gonna be joining the action, Mortensen?_

_Momentarily, once the space around Sargasso has been secured, _Fox heard Jacques over the com, _If Gambino is in possession of a Chaos artifact, then it would be only me that could stand before it and not be corrupted._

Fox heard the Grey Knight pause, before continuing with bitterness straining his word.

_Well…me, __**and**__ Krystal, actually._

Fox rubbed his forehead and sighed tiredly, "Urghh!"

Slippy and Falco stepped into the hangar, headsets on and the avian discarding and stomping on his cigarette before they climbed into their Arwings, strapping themselves in and activating their flight computers. As systems powered up Fox looked ahead through the canopy and the long exit shaft leading to outer space, trying his best to not let his vision blur from exhaustion and to keep his mind as sharp as possible for the sake of the mission.

It was true that he hadn't gotten much sleep since last week. Since that first major battle against Chaos, his encounter with Slaanesh her (or him)self and dismissing and consequently breaking up with Krystal, he had exerted and strained himself training with Jacques on how to wield the Eden sword properly. Not to mention his dormant psychic powers, which for the past few days he had tried to disregard. But since Chaos pried on the dormant psychics it was best he knew how to handle himself against daemonic possession, and Jacques was there to guide him.

Even if the Grey Knight couldn't stop reminding him of Krystal, once in a while asking if he would reconsider his decision to drop her from the team. Just a week ago Jacques seemed to fit skewer him with Nemesis for splitting up with Krystal; now whether that subject was brought up he didn't sense any anger in Jacques, only sadness and bitterness towards the vulpine.

He sighed again, shook his head as he rubbed the side of his head to stave away a headache, and closed the Arwing's canopy.

_You OK, Fox?_ Slippy asked over the com line, _Please tell me you managed to get a least a few hours sleep?_

"Don't worry," Fox responded cooly, "I'm not gonna fall asleep over the controls. Let's just get this op over with and head back to Venom. Sturnn's redeploying the 1st and 2nd Battalions and I'd prefer hanging around them then the Ultramarines."

_Canned assholes,_ Falco grumbled, _Jacques' the exception, maybe.._

_Survelliance around the Sargasso station confirm heavy traffic in and around the area, half of which is confirmed to be military in nature, _ROB stated over the com, _Recommend that you eliminate these threats to allow the Space Brigade to secure the station..._

_And where __**I**__ will also step in, _Jacques added, _Fox, Slippy, Falco…best of luck._

Fox smiled, appreciating Jacques for the first time in a week, "We'll need as much of it as possible."

He then looked ahead to see the outer doors up ahead open. He gripped hold of the flight controls tightly.

"Team Star Fox, on ME!" Fox shouted determinedly, "MOVE OUT!"

The Arwings were then slingshoted out of the Great Fox and towards the blackness of space, but knowing what laid ahead of them. And following close behind them was the Great Fox II and the Cornerian transport cruiser.

----------

Since the staff of the security centre of the Sargasso station was a mix of vulpine, lupine and canine, they could faintly smell the stench of sewage from behind their terminals. The head among them covered his nose as he stood from behind his computer, his senses telling them that the source was behind the door leading into the centre.

"God," he almost choked, "Who in the hell is coming up from the elevator? The guys working in the waster sector?"

"Hey," one of the other technicians said, "The elevator car's nowhere near this sector."

"Say what?"

One electrical crack latter the doors were forced open and in stepped two figures in trenchcoats armed with silenced stubguns. The head tech immediately went for his sidearm blaster but was hit between the eyes with lead, snuffing his life out and his corpse collapsing onto the ground. The assailants then turned on the other technicians, the sounds of machinery and computers drowning out the suppressed blasts of Imperial forged pistols as they each shot the technicians.

One of the techs went down with a thud, bullet lodged in his chest. He looked up to see one of the intruders was a human underneath his hood but his life was extinguished for good when the human brought his foot down on his neck, killing him.

The human exhaled painfully and removed pulled back his hood, the smell of his stinking clothing doing little to distract him from the fact he and his friend had gunned down mostly unarmed support personnel.

"Alright," Ui'Jakob said, wiping grime from his forehead and turning to La'Tash, "Do it."

La'Tash nodded and holstered his stubpistol in his coat, replacing it with a large square wired device which he proceeded to slap beneath the main terminal which held the large screen displaying the station's statistics and information. He pulled away one of the bodies slumped over the terminal and let it slump down onto the ground, causing Ui'Jakob to shudder slightly.

The device activated and immediately the screen distorted and became filled with static. The lights went off, then klaxons started followed by red engulfing the room. Jakob patted Tash's shoulder and nudged his head towards the door, seeing that the lift was going upwards towards the same floor as the security centre. They moved themselves so that they were against the wall near the door.

When the elevator arrived, the door opened and in stepped two heavily armed guards, immediately taken back by the dead bodies of the technicians and the scrambling of the equipment in the room.

"Shit! We're wide op…"

One of the guards felt the barrel of a gun against the side of his head before Tash squeezed the trigger and splattered blood all over his companion, who raised his machine-gun but felt it get kick out of his hands and into the ceiling as Jakob struck. The human then spun around and landing another kick onto his chest and sending him back into the lift, knocking him out.

Jakob and Tash entered the lift, the door closing behind him. The human then pressed for the button which indicated the detention centre.

Tash looked over at his comrade, "I do not believe the prisoners of the smugglers will be subject to termination by the Cornerians Shas'ui. Only investigation."

Frowning, Ui'Jakob responded, "I will make sure of that."

----------

Fox, Falco and Slippy flew in relative silence ahead of the Great Fox II and the Cornerians cruiser, G-Diffusers set to full flight mode as they sailed across the void of space towards their destinations, the orange-red clouds of a nearby nebula coming into view, signalling that they were closing in on their destination.

The vulpine took his hands off the controls for a second to rub the area between his eyes, still feeling tired.

"God, I feel shattered," he groaned loud, shattering the silence.

_It's being a week, what d'ya expect? _Falco asked, _To be honest, I didn't think anyone could go through a week without any real sleep._

Have you tried talking with Krystal, Fox? Slippy asked concernedly, Maybe that's it. First thing after the mission, talk to her. "About what?" Fox asked. You kidding me? Anything! Slippy gawked, I don't like hearing, and seeing, you so miserable, Fox. It's a letdown for the team. Am I right, Fox?

Slippy then paused, then addressed someone else

Jacques? How about you? What do you think?

Fox groaned again, once again about to listen to Jacques' chip in his two cents on the matter. But before that could happen…

_You are approaching Sargasso Space Zone, _ROB informed the mercenary fighter wing, _Prepare for strike._

"Roger that," Fox said, "You guys ready?"

_Hope Jakob's past ready and got his mission done, _Falco said, _If not, this ain't gonna last long._

Soon the Sargasso space station was in view just up ahead, surrounded by a few large civilian cargo ships, medium sized gun cruisers and about a dozen Venomian-produced fighter craft. Slippy's on board analysis computer automatically deduced the origins of the armed starships coming from Andross and Andrew's abandoned or decommissioned shipyards, judging them from their physical appearance and designs.

"Target's up ahead," Fox stated, "Adjust G-Diffusers for all-range mode."

_Roger,_ Falco responded.

_Got it_, Slippy said, _Adjusting…_

The Arwings slowed down and their fighter's wings extended sideways, allowing them for maximum manoeuvrability as they approached the station and immediately the gun cruisers opened fire on them with their long-range cannons. Immediately they adverted the enemy fire, barrel-rolling if need be and immediately concentrating their plasma fire on the nearest gun cruiser, hitting it where its' main engines and reactor would be it.

The cruiser's shield were gradually worn down and a barrage of plasma fire struck that one point on the cruiser an explosion tore through the engines and rendering the cruiser adrift. Fox couldn't resist a smile at their handiwork, and then the enemy fighters came upon them, causing him to grimace as he gripped the controls and manoeuvred around them and towards the space station. The Arwing's pilots realised that the station's defences were down…

"Oi, ROB," Falco spoke into his communicator, "You can bring the ship in now? We could see those missiles right about now?"

_And tell the Space Brigade to get ready to breach, _Fox was heard over the com, _We'll clear the way._

_Affirmative, _ROB responded.

Falco fired a bomb at another gun cruiser, the explosion tearing through it's shields and destroying it's bridge, leaving it also adrift along with several other fighter craft caught in the explosion. He was then struck from behind by another group of fighter which…

"C'MON, THEN!"

…he proceeded to accelerated, drawing them away from Fox and Slippy and towards the station and skimming across, lowering and rising his Arwing to avoid collision with the structure of the space station, dodging laser blasts courtesy of his pursuers. Suddenly he pulled a tight u-turn and headed straight towards them, barrel-rolling their blasts away and firing back, destroying two of the fighters before flying past the rest and back out into wide open space.

Fox and Slippy teamed up to take on another gun cruiser. They broke away when a high-explosive missile launched by the Great Fox II struck it and tore it into pieces. And through the debris came the Cornerian transport cruiser which headed straight for the target station.

"Hey Slippy," Fox tapped his com, "Are you sure that Brigade is under 'Code Black'?"

_Yep, _came Slippy's response, _The last time Code Black was issued it was nine-years ago during the Lylat Wars_

'Shit,' Fox thought, feeling both anxious and tired, 'Hope to God that doesn't include Jakob and Tash.'

----------

Inside the lowest deployment bay of the transport cruiser the soldiers, now fully armed and ready for battle, stood to attention waiting for their superior officer to make the scene. Already standing for a full minute, the whispering begun….

"Hey…remember the briefing? The Good Human himself is in on this battle."

"No kidding! Jumped into one of those devil portals and came back, Cerinian babe in his arms."

"Lucky skinny!"

"Heard he took on dozen monkey-boys armed with a chainsaw."

"Chain_sword_, dumbass."

"Didn't he punch through a tank once?"

The whispering stopped when a few of them noticed the assassin, still sitting away from them near some crates, looking over them. One of them swallowed anxiously and turned to face the front, where the captain – a brown-furred lupine in armour with blaster rifle slung, walked in, accompanied by the lieutenant, an arctic (possibly Fichina-born) husky.

"Alright, listen up!" the captain exclaimed, "We're strapped for time and those bottom-feeding raiders are already bunkering down so I'll keep this brief: Prepare to dock and breach ten seconds after contact. Secure dock, main plaza, all security stations and barracks. Initiate Code Black: Kill _everyone _armed or in hands reach of a firearm…no prisoners. And whatever the hell you do… "

He looked over his men grimly.

"…do not go near or TOUCH anything that has the Eight-Pointed Star or any other iconography seen during the briefing. Leave it for the disposal teams to take care of."

He then turned to the female assassin who approached him.

"You have your own orders?"

The shapely assassin nodded and handled her autogun protectively.

"Then carry them out!" the captain barked, "Don't involve me or any of my personnel whatsoever, understand?"

The assassin moved to the back of the troop deployment bay just as the Cornerian transport cruiser docked against the northern side of the space station, it's size allowing it secure all three airlocks used normally for smaller transport shuttles. Almost everyone in the station was armed, almost to the teeth, as their criminal lives demanded and so they were nearly resigned to death due to the Brigade's Orders.

And a certain Grey Knight made sure they knew that.

_Attention, denizens of Sargasso…_

Everyone present in the station on all floors and levels froze as Jacques' voice came over the comlink and the vibrations of the entire space station shaking as the Cornerian starship attached itself to the side of the station and begun cutting it's way into it.

_…you have all been found guilty of dabbling with material belonging to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. Through your willingness to cooperate with whom you believe would win this war and through your greediness in attempting to profit off such technology and artifacts you have tainted yourselves and are now a black mark against your race. You are traitors to your home system as dictated by the laws and courts and as such your lives a forfeit. Prepare for judgement immediately._

The entire station rocked as the western airlocks situated in the hangar/shipping area burst open and Cornerian troops moved, weapons armed and trigger-fingers itchy. The first victim of the ensuring battle in the Sargasso Space Zone was a sixteen-year old worker who had been grabbed by the nearest avian pirate and used as a shield. His chest was blown out by a Cornerian sergeant, then the avian pirate guard felt the next blaster ray hit him between the eyes, cauterising his eyes lids and frying his brain, causing instant death.

The Cornerian sergeant didn't even bat an eyelid when he realised what just happened. He just bit his lip, feeling the adrenaline course through his system with the thought that these…Lylatians…were helping Chaos with it's dirty work.

Not caring that he would be mimicking the zealotry of the Imperial Guard, he shouted out loud, "C'MON, BOYS! DOWN WITH THE FUCKIN' TRAITORS! KILL EM' ALL"

* * *

So what do you think? Things are going a bit slow I admit, but that comes with reestablishing the characters, their personalities, hopes and whatever dreams they have left.  
Don't hesistate to review, I appreciation your opinions.


	3. Chapter 2: Those Who Serve Evil

**Disclaimer: See the Prologue**

* * *

Chapter 2 – Those Who Serve Evil

* * *

_  
Yeah, crime pays. Why else do you think I do it?_  
_**- "Verbal" Boze, Fenksworld Hive Ganger**_

The elevator doors opened and the pirate guarding the front entrance to the detention block caught a glimpse of a human and a Tau in trenchcoat and the human quickly raising his silenced stubpistol to his forehead, then silence.

"Did you feel that?" La'Tash referenced the heavy vibrations throughout the steel construction of the station.

Jakob nodded and replaced the clip in his stubpistol, letting the empty clip fall to the ground, "The attack has started."

He then pulled back the slider of his stubpistol then looked at it and appeared dejected, disappointed to be armed with such a pitiful weapon.

"I hope we don't go up against anything heavy."

Ui'Jakob then kneeled before the corpse of the pirate guard and fished through the pockets of his vest. He silently thanked his lucky stars when his fingers traced over a keycard and he darted for the door access panel, sliding it across and the door opening with a hiss, revealing a long corridor between dozens of wide 10 by 10 cells. The lights flickering above, the quiet sobs and moans added to the atmosphere.

La'Tash bent over to recover the guard's blaster rifle as they stepped into the block. They slowly made their way through passing by the cells which were filled all filled with civilians – men, women and children huddling against one another.

"Hey!" a collie canine male called out, "HEY!"

Jakob walked up to the bars, "Are you people alright?"

The collie smiled widely and gripped the bars, "We are now. You're not one of those slavers or those cultists, so you're here to rescue us."

Jakob nodded, "We can ferry you all out of here once we've secured the station. Is anyone here injured?"

He was met with shakes of heads and 'no's,' before the collie looked grim and gestured to the right, indicating the opposite cell, where the majority of the sobbing came from.

"The girls in the next cell kept getting taken out and dragged downstairs," the collie explained, "And when they come back they…they…uh…"

La'Tash checked the next cell and saw the the cell was filled with about a dozen female Lylatian of various species, all young women and each one bruised, bloodied and naked; a few of them clutching blankets to themselves in a attempt to shield themselves from the Tau's view. La'Tash looked away suddenly, eyes shut.

Ui'Jakob downcast his eyes and muttered, "Savages."

"What?"

Startled out of his thoughts, the gue'la added loudly, "JUST…stay calm, we're get you out of here soon enough."

He then turned away and reached for his communicator.

"Tau Gue'la to Space Brigade."

_This is Space Brigade…what's your status?_

"We're in the detention center, fourth floor. We have civilians in need of medical assistance and must be evacuated, over."

_Uhh…affirmative. We're sending two squads to facilitate evacuations. Hold your positions._

"Acknowledged. Be quick it about it, Tau Gue'la out."

As soon as Ui'Jakob closed his communicator vicious snarling could be heard from one of the cells opposite, frightening the prisoners and especially the mentally and physically traumatized women. Ui'Jakob moved to escape and once he stood before the cell he felt a toilet cell impact with his forehead and knock him off his feet, causing him to draw his blaster rifle and clutch his head in pain.

"AHHH!!"

La'Tash ran to his eye and found that behind those bars was a bald, muscled human cultist dressed in a loin cloth and with the symbol of Khorne carved into his forehead and bleeding.

"BLOOD! GORE! KILL! FRAKING KILL YOU ALLLLLLL!"

Tash quickly moved to put down the cultist. He stepped towards the bars and as the cultist reached forward to grab him by the coat the Tau raised his stubpistol and shot him point blank between the eyes. He spun around to see Ui'Jakob standing and nursing the massive bruise developing on his forehead.

"Are you alright, Shas'Ui?"

"Uh…uh…ow…" Jakob chuckled painfully, "Yes, I will live."

He then stared angrily at the cultist who had just decked him.

"He won't."

"For sure."

Both disciples of the Greater Good turned around to look at the cell opposite the cultist's one. It was empty, save for it's only prisoner that had just spoken up – a gray pointy-eared vixen in a black vest over a form-hugging grey blouse and black track pants. She stood up and walked to the bars smiling, where they caught the badge on the left side of her vest.

Kyra Stryker – Cornerian News Network

#45631-2423-A

"I assume you're here to liberate Sargasso once and for all?" she asked inquisitively.

Jakob recognized her voice and frowned, suddenly becoming sly, "And I will assume you will start begging me for details concerning our mission once we release you to fill your papers?"

Tash and 'Kyra' looked at him oddly.

"I recognize your voice anywhere," Ui'Jakob stated as he punched codes into the keypad located to the side of the cell, "And to tell you in advance, I will NOT be inclined to be participate in your media circus."

Kyra looked at him, shocked, "But I haven't even…"

"But I will ask you how you got to be here," Ui'Jakob then said, "Ah…here it us."

The cell bars opened and Kyra stepped out, brushing off her shirt and snorting, "Let's just say I was at the right place at the wrong time."

"That's been going around a lot," Ui'Jakob commented wearily, "Ethereals protect us."

----------

The female Cornerian soldier bounded out of the airlock connecting the transport cruiser to the station, suppressed autogun in hand and her feet firmly on top of the corpse of a pirate mercenary. She scanned the area, both with her eyes and her wrist-mounted computer, immediately seeing that the Cornerian Space Brigade ahead of her had already secured the hangar, and already mopping up the rest of the pirates.

Her mission had just begun.

_Kursed,_ a rough authoritative voice barked over her earpiece communicator, _Target has been spotted in main offices five floors up. Neutralize immediately and secure package for immediately disposal by Grey Knight._

She slung her autogun over her shoulder.

"Received," her voice was masked by a scrambler, which made her voice sound femininely distorted.

_Avoid contact with any other personnel as much as possible. Priority is Target and Package at all times. Mick out!_

Like a blur she made a beeline for the elevators, diving behind crates and other assorted machines present in the hangar. She immediately pressed hard on the keypad near the doors and the opened, revealing the empty shaft.

'Kursed' leapt from the doorway across the seemingly black abyss below her to the ladder going upward and begun climbing it, not making any faint sounds of exertion as she did so. The sounds of gunfire, people shouting, death cries and more gunfire did little to distract her as she focused solely on her mission.

With little fuss, couple with no distraction whatsoever, she was near the fifth floor elevators doors. She would have gone further if it weren't for the ladder vibrating as the elevator car descended down the shaft and towards her. Quickly, she leapt from the ladder across the dark shaft to the fourth floor doors and pressed the emergency numbers 000.

The doors opened as she leapt through, rolling across the windowed corridor floor above Sargasso's main lobby area as the elevator cars descended down the shaft and away from her. The armed pirates present were startled at the sight of an suited assassin in their presence…

"SHIT! ASSASSIN!"

"SHOOT HER!"

…and raised their blasters. But Kursed beat them to the trigger, grabbing her autogun and firing suppressed slugs on full auto at the pirates, tearing miniature holes in their bodies and splattering blood all over the walls and windows. She didn't stop firing until half her current magazine was empty as she got up from her kneeling position and ran down the corridor.

She heeled boots finished off one downed enemy as she stepped on his neck and left him drowning in his own blood. Ever since she had started this dark occupation she had no regard as to how her enemies were killed, as the mission always came first to her.

----------

"_Jacques, __**brother**__. You're the strongest out of all of us."_

"_No. You are, sister. You always have been."_

Jacques stared at his right gauntlet and Krystal's green emerald necklace that laid in his palm. He looked emotionless as he traced his big finger across the jewel before enclosing his whole hand over it and holding it to his forehead, eyes closed intensely and exhaling out his nose. He then placed the necklace over his neck and it hung there, the emerald resting on his chest.

He then reached forward and grabbed _Nemesis_ off the counter, studying the thick six foot rune-covered Nemesis Force sword before slinging it over his shoulder and into it's sheath which was situated near his power backpack. He fed a fresh magazine of bolts into his the wrist-mounted storm bolter on his right hand. He then spun around and walked out of the room, his blue cloak flowing behind him and his helm under his left arm.

The Grey Knight placed his helm over head, his breathing immediately being heard through the vox-vocaliser built into the helm. Soon he found himself standing before the airlock.

_Commander Mortensen, _ROB's voice could be heard over the vox-line, _We are near proximity to the station's mid-level airlocks and offices._

"Good," Jacques' voice sounded sinister through his vox, "Once I am off board retreat to a safe distance immediately."

He pummeled his right fist into his left palm once, smiling.

"I am glad to be ridding Lylat of it's corrupted once again," he spoke to himself, "It will be like those three months all over again."

----------

"SHIT! MORE OF EM' COMING!"

"AIRLOCK! LOCK IT DOWN NOW!"

The pirate technician fumbled with his portable terminal as he wired it to the airlock just outside the main offices and begun typing down the necessary codes in order to lock it down. He briefly glanced out the window at the Great Fox II as it attached itself to the side of the station, the area shaking not only from the action going on several floors down but now including the Great Fox II extending it's airlock-walkway to the side of the station.

The dozen blaster rifles and machine-gun shaking nervously in the sweating hands of the pirate guards who stood guards outside the airlock, pointing their weapons at the outer door.

The lead pirate was armed with a minigun. He snarled, "Right boys, no one's coming through that damn door now the egghead's locked it! And if he does…"

Suddenly as massive psychically-imbued shining blade pierced through the metal outer door and sliced it downward. The round door was then bent outwards out of shape courtesy of the charging Grey Knight until it was busted off it's mechanical hinges and was stood in it's place was the Grey Knight, Nemesis in hand and storm bolter loaded.

"SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT THE FUCCCKKKKEEERRRR!"

Jacques focused his faith-imbued shield as he charged furiously and knocked several pirates aside as he went for the minigun wielding, Nemesis' blade skimming the floor as he held it with one hand, then swung it with all his might and slicing the pirate in half. He sent the torso flying, splattering it against the wall and it slid down in a mess of it's own entrails. Jacques then finised him off with Nemesis through the throat and into the heart.

Not bothering to waster his bolter ammunition on these pirates, he continued to throw himself against the pirate guards in the airlock chamber, ignoring their screams and cries for mercy as he went about hacking them apart fiercely, both hands on the hilt of Nemesis as the pirates found that their ranged weapons were useless up close to a zealous Grey Knight and realizing they might as well have resigned themselves to death.

The last pirate felt himself relieved of both his arms and he fell over backwards, too shocked to fell pain or even react at all. He didn't seem to protest one bit when Jacques stood over him and stomped his head to pieces with a sickeningly wet crack.

Jacques snorted and turned away from the carnage he inflicted, running down the hallway into the offices, Nemesis still brimming with energy, now slightly red as it reflected off the blood on it's blade.

"My armor is contempt," Jacques bitterly said to himself, before looking down at the gaping face of a pirate corpse, "And I have it only for you. Not because you an alien, _never_ because you are an alien…"

He then growled.

"…but that you serve Chaos.

----------

Within the 'Office of the Chief Executive Officer' of the deluded criminal known as Gambino, the green-tinted holographic image of Ahriman hovered above the desk of lizard, who was looking up hopefully at the ousted Librarian, the exile of the Thousand Sons, the sole cause of that Traitor Legion's eternal damnation: The infamous Rubric of Ahriman.

Gambino was silently fascinated by the appearance of the Sorcerer/Librarian, especially his blue robes which covered him and his power armor. Ahriman in turn was fascinated by the Cornerian's objective: A cube with the emblem of Tzeentch carved into all eight sides.

"You have exceeded my expectations, Gambino," Ahriman spoke down to the lizards, "The Sorcerer himself, the true God of Chaos will be most pleased."

"That's good and all, Librarian," Gambino said, twiddling his fingers as he sat behind his desk, "Now, let us discuss payment."

If it were possible should he have been psychic Gambino would have sensed Ahriman's growing annoyance towards the notoriously business-like crime boss. However Ahriman kept a straight face behind his helm…

"Of course. Payment in credits and weaponry will be forwarded to the designated point of acquirement…providing you reach there from your current…destination."

Gambino nodded, "Yesssssss….about that…"

He crossed his arms, his left hand pointing downward at the floor.

"The enemy is downstairs and will no doubt burst through this office at any given moment."

Ahriman studied him quietly.

"I am sure the Warmaster will tend to you needs. He should arrive at Sargasso at any given moment."

"He best," Gambino said calmly, "Otherwise you may lose this artifact."

"Oh, do not concern yourself about _that_," Ahriman sounded smug, "We will have that artifact regardless of the loss of your life."

----------

Kursed felt a familiar psychic pattern up ahead towards the offices and reached over her shoulder, unzipping a large compartment built into her suit. As she reached the next corner she pulled out…

"…but that you serve Chaos."

…a retracted Cerinian forged elemental staff. She extended it, revealing itself in it's carved elongated beauty, just in time to block a heavy sword swing. She then bent over backwards and skidded on her knees past her attacker, aiming her autogun at the attacker face with one hand as he pointed his storm bolter in her face.

Ranged weapons in one another's faces, they stood off against each other – the Assassin and the Grey Knight. Though their faces were hidden from the other, they could spiritually sense each other facial expressions.

They were both smiling at one another.

"Procer."

"Who0 bdawxk."

And they referred to the other in their mother tongues. Jacques then reached forward and grasped Kursed's hand, helping her to her feet. She then reached for her mask and pulled it off, revealing her slightly sweat-soaked cerulean furred face to the artificial air of the Sargasso station. For once it wasn't her deep blue eyes that drew Jacques' attention to her, it was the scar beneath them which stretched from one end of her face to the other.

"Sister."

"Brother."

"We have a servant of Chaos that needs be shown the error of his ways."

"We do indeed."

"Let us make haste."

----------

"Ui'Jakob! UI'JAKOB!"

Amongst the scramble of the captive civilians being escorted to safety out of the detention center by the Cornerians, La'Tash noticed something out of place. He pushed his way past the civvies being evacuated until he reached Ui'Jakob.

The gue'la stared at him confusingly, "What's wrong?"

"The cell where that cultist was being captive?"

"What about it? That cultic rose from the dead?"

Tash nodded, panicked, "That's probably the reason why. LOOK!"

Following the path of La'Tash's finger he saw that the bars leading into the cultist's cell was open and it was empty. Ui'Jakob eyes widened as his usual calm demeanor briefly gave way.

"Not good. Not good at all."

----------

_We do indeed._

_Let us make haste._

The fur on his head absorbed Fox's sweat as he heard those two voices, his heart pounding against his chest from the panic he was experiencing. He wasn't concerned at all about the male voice over the com but the female that had just been heard was close to making him hyperventilate from the fear. He piloted the Arwing so that it was going around the Sargasso station in a circle, his turns as tight as his skill and the G-Diffuser could manage.

_Fox! _Slippy squealed in alarm, _Did ya' hear that?_

"Yeah," Fox hissed, "Thanks to the vox/com tune-ups you did yesterday."

_Heh, picked up a forbidden line, did you Foxy?_ Falco chuckled, _Didn't think Krystal would venture out into this scary universe by herself, eh?_

"Shut up, Falco!" Fox lost his patience.

He then performed a tight u-turn and headed straight for the northern entrance into the station.

_Fox, what are you doing?_

"I'm going in, Slip," Fox responded, "Mop up the rest of the pirate fleet, will you?"

_Clean up duty, then? _Falco asked, _Meh…won't have to worry about the blood spatter on my flightsuit._

Fox experienced the weirdest feeling of déjà vu as he steered his Arwing through the station's force field bubble and into the hangar, alluding to the last time Team Star Fox visited Sargasso. As he landed several Cornerian troopers surrounded the Arwing;, weapons drawn Fox leapt out of the cockpit, the Arwing's storage compartment opening up below. He reached under it and pulled out the longsword Eden in it's sheath. The soldiers watched quietly, almost in awe, as Fox strapped the sheath across his back.

As he pulled out his blaster he finally acknowledged the Cornerians' presence…

"Problems?"

"Yeah!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, "Aren't you supposed to be keeping the spaceways clear outside?"

Fox shook his head and pushed his way past them, "Not while a couple of people I know are on board this rust bucket."

He stepped out of the way to allow a mass of unarmed civilians rush past him and towards the airlock into the Cornerian cruiser. He adverted his gaze when several of them, entirely female, ran past him.

"FOX McCLOUD!"

He froze when he heard a certain female call his name out.

'Shit, Kyra Stryker!' he thought, 'She got herself captured _again_?'

Sure enough the vixen reported tried to push past the other civilians making their way to the airlock, all the while calling out…

"What's going on, McCloud?" she shouted out loud, "Is the Lylat/Imperium Coalition considering retaking Corneria following this operation?"

Fox couldn't hold back a smirk, 'She never quits. Glad it isn't me that has to pull her tight ass out of here this time.'

He then reached forward and grabbed a soldier by the scruff, startling him.

"THE GREY KNIGHT?"

The soldier pointed upwards, "Office complex, four floors up! The captain's almost near his position…ah!"

Fox let him and go rushed towards the stairs, reaching for the hilt of Eden and pulling it out of his sheath, blaster in his right hand.

----------

Jacques frowned as he detected another aura approaching his and Krystal position from a couple of floors down.

'You underestimate my resolve to protect Krystal, do you McCloud?' Jacques thought, feeling embittered, 'It is because of you she, and I, are here.'

"Fox."

Jacques turned to her, feigning ignorance, "What was that?"

"Fox is onboard Sargasso," Krystal tapped her forehead, eyes closed, "He is concerned for us."

"His feelings of concern are misplaced. We can handle ourselves out here."

"He's convinced otherwise though," Krystal said, "Gambino is just up ahead I…"

"RAAAAARGGGGGHHHHH!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly the berserking Khornate cultist smashed through a nearby door and bowled Krystal done, knocking her staff out of hand and pinning her to the floor with both hands over hers. Before she had the chance to smell the blood in his breath Jacques kicked the cultist off her, before bringing Nemesis down on him. The cultist rolled backward and avoided the blow, before rushing forward and running up the long blade, leaping off it and planting both feet on Jacques, knocking him down.

Grabbing her staff, Krystal summoned flame from her staff they engulfed the cultist. His scream was high pitched and was cut short when Krystal ram the point of her staff through his mouth and out the other end, snuffing him out for good this time. She could feel the cultist's flaming body singe the fur on her hands and arms and quickly pulled back.

"Krystal…" Jacques got up, "Are you injured?"

Krystal examined her hands, checking for burns, before shaking her head.

"Then let us proceed."

They headed into the offices where they walked right into a gunfight between Cornerian soldiers and Gambino's female bodyguard amongst the office cubicles. The body of a Cornerian soldier landed at Jacques feet, a massive hole through his chest caused by a portable laser cannon blast. Krystal dove behind a cubicle for cover while Jacques stood his ground, firing back with his storm bolter.

Another laser cannon blast struck Jacques square in the chest, the force being able to knock him down on his back, but luckily not piercing his armor. The Cornerians then fought harder, seeing now that an Astartes like Jacques could get knocked down. The captain leading the Cornerian Space Brigade forces was there; pinned down in his cubicle due to the amount of plasma and laser the pirate bodyguards were laying down.

His eyes lit up when suddenly shrill female screams sounded off. He looked up from cover to see Fox running in from behind them from the door leading to the staircase with a power sword and engaging the bodyguards up close, swinging and slicing through one female before stabbing another female. Taking advantage of the distraction, the captain fired his blaster rifle at the remaining bodyguards before Fox had the chance to bring Eden upon them.

"Nice timing, McCloud!" the captain grinned, "Your Space Marine got the wind knocked out of him."

Fox regarded the captain for a second, then saw Jacques rolling over onto his chest and picking himself up, Krystal nearby and arms stretched forward, ready to help him at a moment's notice.

He glared at the both of them, "He's not _my_ Space Marine."

Krystal looked over at Fox, saddened at the way Fox glared at her. He gradually stopped glaring, only appearing worn out towards her. He turned to the captain when Jacques looked his way.

"Gambino's office is just up ahead, right?"

"Yeah," the captain replied, then whistled at his men and gestured down the office hallway past the cubicles to the door at the far end, "Let's go…flanking maneuvers."

The Cornerians then moved forward, Fox shoving his way past to Krystal and Jacques.

The Grey Knight sheathed Nemesis and crossed his arms. "Your presence on board the station was not required."

Fox shrugged, Eden still in his hand and the point touching the floor, "Force of habit, I guess."

"What?" Krystal asked, not sounding happy to see the vulpine.

Fox could sense that, immediately missing the way Krystal almost spoke to him warmly and sincerely. He responded in kind, "Looking out for the both of you. That's probably it."

Krystal's eyes widened, startled. Jacques frowned, "You were only meant to provide air support this day, Fox. General Hare stated that…"

"I _know_ what Peppy said, Jacques," Fox replied, heatedly "Let's just destroy the artifact and get head back, alright?"

He spun around and ran to catch up with the Cornerian, leaving Jacques and Krystal to follow as well, albeit slowly.

Krystal sighed and thought sadly, 'He's not happy I'm here.'

'He will have to deal with it,' Jacques responded telepathically, 'He should have expected this when he dismissed you.'

'I didn't thing he'd take it this badly,' Krystal replied, then addressed Jacques directly, "You as well."

Jacques growled softly, narrowing his eyes, "Emotions…and how I express my concern are still fickle to me, Krystal."

They ran upward and caught up with everyone else, just in time as the captain reloaded his rifle…

"Get ready to force entry," the captain ordered, "Weapons ready."

Jacques drew Nemesis with both hands, leaning the blade forward towards the door as two Cornerian soldiers applied explosives to the door. Krystal looked over at him, worriedly.

'I hope you don't let this is all go to your head, Jacques,' Krystal thought, making sure to keep it her own, 'Or your faith for that matter. I know you must think of me when you fight…'

She then glanced away from him, briefly towards Fox, then redirecting her gaze to her staff.

'…just don't let it always be the reason you wield Nemesis.'

----------

Gambino heard the banging from the other side of the door and sighed, feeling resigned. He calmly got up from behind desk and walked over to the cube. Pushing a button to the side he lowered the containment field and the pulsating glow from the artifact bathed the entire room in it's deadly aura. He smiled and begun to reach for it.

He stopped when the door was blasted open and Cornerians rushed in, weapons drawn.

"FREEZE!"

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

"Gambino…?"

Fox pushed his way through the Cornerian soldiers, blaster in hand. Krystal and Jacques followed, and immediately froze when Fox fired his blaster as Gambino's feet, keeping him away from the artifact. What then followed was a tense stand off between the lizard crime boss, the Lylatians and the Grey Knight. The Cornerian soldiers, shocked at the sight of the artifact in the room, found that they couldn't raise their weapons to point at Gambino, fearing that any movement on their part could stir the darkness within the cube.

Fox broke the silence…

"For the suave businessman you _think_ you make yourself out to be, you're a real moron Gambino," Fox cried, tightening his grip on the handle of his blaster with each passing second, "Why would you agree to help those evil bastards?"

Gambino opened his mouth to speak, but Fox then waved his hand.

"Uh…don't tell me," Fox frowned, "It has to be money?"

Gambino smirked, "Money, security…"

He then pointed towards the glowing, pulsating cube.

"…and power."

"Security?" Jacques hissed through gritted teeth, "Power?"

Gambino stepped towards the artifact, immediately having several blaster rifles trained on him, the targeting lasers creating combined large red spot all over his body and head. He then to face the dozen blaster rifles held by the nervous, yet evidently strong-willed, Cornerian soldiers; Jacques' storm bolter, Krystal's staff and Fox's blaster. He smiled even wider as he looked at the artifact.

"I'll let you know I've studied the Ruinous Powers for many years," Gambino explained, "Power stemming from the negativity of every thinking life form is limitless, all consuming, maddening…"

He then looked over at Jacques, the Grey Knight noticing the whites of his eyes…were now glowing red.

"…and with all that comes _security._ Chaos _will_ consume the entire universe, and the only hope to survive in this coming hell is to bow down and accept."

Fox shook his head, "No way we're going to be doing that, Gambino."

"Not when there's hope in survival," Krystal added determinedly, "While there's hope in preventing the coming of the Realm of Chaos."

Gambino laughed and dove for the artifact.

"HOPE IS ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF TZEENTCH, IDIOTS! DEPEND ON THAT AND YOU…!"

He didn't finish as every Cornerian rifle emptied themselves into him, the loud electrical cracking of blaster fire dominating the sound waves. Gambino's body was still standing body but covered in laser burns, the heat cooking his scales, melding his clothing to his body and melting some of the muscles in his arms, causing them to slowly liquefy. Still smiling, Gambino tumbled forward like a true trunk towards the cube with his arms stretched forward.

He grabbed the artifact off it's pedestal as he collapsed onto the ground…

"DAMNATION!"

…causing Jacques to scream in righteous fury and give everyone a good scare, Nemesis raised as he charged towards Gambino fallen form. Gripping Nemesis with both hands he brought it down upon the lizard. Nemesis' blade only had to prick Gambino's torso, then it exploded in a massive eruption of blood, gore and eldritch energy, the force washing over Jacques and sending him off his feet and towards the others. They ducked out of the way as he landed, Nemesis landing on it's point; sticking into the metal ground before Krystal.

"JACQUES!"

Unlike Fox and the other Cornerian personnel, she disregarded the geyser of red blood and purple energy where Gambino's body was as she darted over to Jacques, immediately kneeling at his side and gripping his arms. Crying in exertion he quickly pulled away from her and got up, very nearly knocking her down; startling her.

"Stand aside!" he exclaimed as he shuffled towards his sword, zealotry evident in the way he spoke, "The Spawn approaches!"

"Spawn?" Fox cried, "You mean…?"

The entire floor and much of the walls was now given a bloody new makeover, the stuff dripping from everywhere. Pulsating in place of Gambino's mortal body was a scaly pulsating mass of flesh, muscle and bone, it's pulsating fleshly tentacles flailing upwards into the air, screaming in hellish agony and splattering more blood all over the room. The sight proved too much for the captain and some of the Cornerians, who quickly turned around in order to throw up.

"DO NOT BARE WITNESS TO IT!" Jacques shouted alarmed, stunning every rational present with his vox-enhanced voice, "EVERYONE OUT OF THE ROOM…NOW!"

Not needed to be told twice the Cornerians darted out of the room en-masse, leaving only Fox, Krystal and Jacques there to face the beast – Eden, Nemesis and staff in hand. The captain took one final look at the three melee-savvy specialists and left the room, closing the door behind him. Blaster still in his hand, he begun barking at the troops as they moved to defensive positions in the main hall.

"Keep your sights trained on that door!" he exclaimed, "Nothing comes out of there except two foxes and one human! Everything else…blow it back to Hell!

----------

Krystal swallowed nervously as she held her extended staff towards the warp-spawned abomination to nature. She noticed the Chaos Spawn's remaining reptilian eye gazing at her and she immediately adopted a defensive stance, daring the twisted parody of life to attack her.

"Are you still here Fox, Krystal?" Jacques spat angrily, "I said OUT!"

Already mad that the spawn was even looking at Krystal's direction, he gripped Nemesis' handle tightly and took one step forward. Gamino-spawn's eye shot towards him and immediately his tentacles went for him, grabbing him both his legs…

"YAAAAAAH!"

…and dangling him from the air.

"JACQUES!" Krystal shouted again in alarm.

"Goddammit," Fox muttered as he lunged for the spawn.

He swung Eden against it diagonally, slicing through the flesh and splattering viscera all over the floor beside it. It wailed in pain and immediately released a shockwave of eldritch energy and blasted Fox backward into the air. He gritted his teeth as he landed feet first then toppled backwards, landing on his behind.

Believing the Chaos Spawn was distracted an upside down dangling Jacques awkwardly swung Nemesis and severed the tentacles around his legs. He unceremoniously fell to the ground, his head banging against the floor and dazing him. Krystal was next on the attack, attacking with her ice blasts and causing the spawn to slink away backwards away from Jacques, who tore his helmet off to rub the back of his head, slowly getting up and reaching for his sword, the joints in his armor creaking.

Fox had already recovered and joined Krystal in attacking the slithering chaotic remains of Gambino, pulling out his blaster and firing at the spawn's eye, cauterizing it's eyelids and blinding it. The spawn squealed loudly and flailed it's limbs about violently. Jacques gritted his teeth, eyes narrowed as if he was enraged…

"Do not resist judgement, Gambino!" he exclaimed, raising his sword, "You brought this on yourself! Allow us to put you out of your misery!"

_Jacques, _he then heard Krystal speak in his mind reassuringly, calming him down some, _It's all right. I won't let him lay a single appendage on me._

The Chaos spawn then turned so it faced Fox and immediately sent it's tentacles hurtling towards him. Recalling his psychic training an hour earlier he attempted to psychically push the tentacles away from him, which he managed to so. But then suddenly he thought that something hard had struck him upside the head, giving him a massive migraine followed by deep voices screaming away in his mind, causing him to drop Eden.

Sensing what was going on, both Jacques and Krysta charged, the Grey Knight roaring as they swung their weapons and pierced the spawn, driving the blade of Nemesis and the staff end respectively deep into it. The spawn then screamed out loud again, before it contorted and what appeared to be a grossly enlarged head of the lizard Gambino spurted out of the middle of it and towards Krystal, it's mouth open intent on devouring her whole.

Jacques suddenly felt something jump off his back and hurl itself towards the spawn and it's newly formed extendable head. He looked up to see that it was Fox, Eden in hand, where upon descending towards the creature he sliced off the head, splattering blood and viscera all over the room. Krystal put up her staff shield just in time to stop the gore from engulfing her while Jacques just let it wash over him.

Spitting some of Gambino's blood out, he then wiped his forehead of the filth and raised his storm bolter, blasting away at the spawn and causing it to shirk backwards towards the Chaos artifact. Raising Nemesis for another strike, he charged ahead furiously, the whiteness glowing all around him as he fed his armor psychic power.

Just before it was sliced in half along with the artifact, whatever was left of Gambino, mainly his partially-melted head and half his torso, inside the Chaos spawn formed out of the 'chest' of the spawn and screamed …

"AHRIMAN, YOU SHIT…!"

…and the resulting explosion was yet more blood and gore, but this time mixed with eldtrich Chaotic energy that sounded like electricity mixed with women screaming as the Chaos Spawn was engulfed in it's own power and fading away back to where it came from – The Warp. Krystal shrieked in pain, dropped her staff and put her hands over her eyes, falling to her knees

"Krystal!" Fox exclaimed and rushed over to her, "What's wrong?"

When Krystal looked up, Fox was startled to see that her eyes were bleeding. He suddenly saw red in the corner of his left eye, and putting his finger to it he could see that he was bleeding as well. Jacques gritted his teeth as he wiped the blood dripping from his eyes as if they were tears.

"Do we call _this_ an overload?" Fox asked as he helped Krystal up.

Jacques looked over at him, eyes switching between Fox and Krystal, and nodded, "Yes. Our bodies and souls felt it and reacted like so."

Licking his lips, finding trace of Gambino's blood still on them, he spat to the side once again and saw the shattered fragments of the artifact strewn about all over the ground. Krystal then burnt them completely out of existence using fire projectiles from her staff. She then blinked away the blood still in her eyes, then scratched the scar underneath them as she turned towards Fox.

"Mission accomplished, Fox, Jacques," she sounded weary before smiling, "Let's head back to Venom."

Suddenly the floor begun to vibrate under their feet…

"What…?"

…then klaxons sounded off loudly around them and everything begun to rumble violently around them. Not wasting time they made their way towards the room's exit, with the Brigade captain and the troops still waiting for them, weapons already lowered as they tried to keep their balance as the space station shook.

"What the hell's going on now?" the captain demanded.

Jacques' frowned and tapped his forehead, "I am sensing warp rifts opening up just outside Sargasso."

"Me too!" Krystal exclaimed, "They are being generated by Chaos warp engines."

"What?" Fox cried, "How many?"

"Can't tell…" Krystal muttered, "A lot of them. A whole fleet, maybe."

"Fleet?" the captain was stunned, "Enemy reinforcements?"

Fox sighed, "We can't stay to find."

He then barked out loud…

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE BACK TO THE SHIPS!"

…then he, Krystal, Jacques and all Cornerian personnel fled the scene, bent on reaching their respective transports and getting as far away from Sargasso as possible. Fox adjusted his communicator so that it would tuned into Ui'Jakob's frequency.

"Jakob?" Fox said into his communicator mouthpiece as he ran, "Talk to me. Can you reach evac!"

What he got in response was the sound of bolter fire, cursing, war cries and Ui'Jakob shouting out La'Tash's name. Fox felt his fur stand on end at the sound of the bolter fire, and Jakob's response did nothing to curb his fright.

_We have…problems, McCloud! _Jakob exclaimed loudly above the noise, _Chaos Space Marines have just teleported onto the station. I count one Sorcerer amongst…damn…look out…_

"WHAT?" Fox cried, "Chaos Mar…?"

He was interrupted when the sound of Cornerian soldiers screaming above chainswords pierced the air as up ahead around the corner to the left leading to the main elevator the Cornerians guarding the lift entrance were sent flying into the main hallway in pieces, blood splattering all over the walls. Everyone present raised their weapons as the enemy came into view.

Jacques' narrowed his eyes when two Chaos Marine stepped around the corner towards them, both of them armed with a chainsword while the other was armed with a boltpistol. Jacques recognized their black armor and yellow Chaos symbol with a single eye embedded in the centre – which the skull motif on their left pauldron. Krystal noticed as well, judging from her diluted pupils and the fact she sudden froze stiff in fright as memories of Cerinia came flooding back to her.

It was the Traitor Legion that symbolized the destruction of Cerinia.

"B…Black Legion," Krystal said softly.

"WE ARE THE CHOSEN, UNENLIGHTENED XENO!" the vox-vocalisers on the helms of the Word Bearers Chaos Marines made them sound like the devil himself, "FOR THE WARMASTER! FOR THE DESPOILER! WE ARE RETURED! DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR!

The Chaos Marine with the boltpistol raised it and begun firing. Reacting fast, Krystal darted forward and put up her staff shield, and then she spun her staff and fired a volley of flame shots. The Chaos Marine grunted as they raised their arms to shield themselves from the resulting blaze. Jacques then charged forward and swung Nemesis, slicing off the Marine's left hand, which held his boltpistol. The other Chaos Marine recovered and swung his chainsword, slicing against Jacques' side, cutting through the armor and wounding him, slicing him across the hip.

Jacques grunted and shoulder charged the other Marine, knocking him down before dodging a chainsword swipe from the handless Marine, then driving Nemesis through his chest and slicing sideways, tearing out most of his chest and scattering pieces of crimson armor as well as lots of blood onto the walls. He then turned towards the other Marine and swung Nemesis, slicing off his head.

Now that the coast was now clear the others begun to move up. Krystal was immediately at Jacques' side, having seen him receive the wound.

"You caught one back there, Jacques," Fox told him, adding rather subtly, "In case you didn't notice right away."

"It is nothing," Jacques reassured him, then grasped Krystal's hand before she could apply her hand to her in a comforting manner. He then called out to the Brigade soldiers, "Staircase?"

"Definitely," the captain said, "Back down to the hangar bay, our ticket out of here's waiting!"

----------

Blasting away at the seemingly indestructible Traitor Marines with salvaged black market blaster rifles, Ui'Jakob and La'Tash ran as fast as their tired, aching legs allowed them; down the main staircase adjacent to the main elevator connecting the hangars to the main plaza and to the upper executive levels. La'Tash looked over his shoulder briefly to notice a bolter round sail past him and hit the wall, the sparks striking him in the face.

"AH!" Tash cried, hand over his face, "BURNS!"

He felt Jakob's hand on his shoulder, guiding him along as they reached the bottom of the staircase and through the door into the blood-soaked, body-riddled hangar bay. He noticed an Arwing situated near one of the forcefield entryways leading into space and hoped that whoever was onboard the station was able to get out in time. He let go of Tash's shoulder, him rubbing his eyes out of any spark-induced discomfort. Jakob turned towards one of the airlocks to see a squad of Cornerian soldiers guarding it.

"Hey, trenchcoats!" a Cornerian soldier waved over at them, "Over here!"

The both of them ran over towards them, greeted by a couple of salutes.

"Guess we got you two to thank for taking out Sargasso's guns and saving those civvie's furs," a dachau corporal smiled, "So thanks."

"Please…save it," Jakob panted as he pointed towards the staircase adjacent the elevator, feeling breathless and currently trying to regain it, "Chaos…behind us!"

"WHAT?"

The Cornerian all gripped their weapons and pointed them towards the staircase in the center of the hangar area. They were wise not to disregard anything related to Chaos from even a human's mouth, but that didn't prepare them for a sudden ominous P.A. announcement which chilled the blood of everyone present and make their fur stand on end.

Except his, of course.

".Qui obviam ire vox of Chaos , qui superstes ruina illae pitiful tractus constituo per nostrum inficio lancea vadum have suum viscus lacer off quod no ut reus nostrum votum libri!." (1)

"The hell they say?" one of the Cornerian demanded.

They all ducked their heads as bolter fire blazed upon them from the pursuing Black Legion Chaos Marines. They begun firing at the armored brutes as they rounded the corner past some shipping crates, one soldier tossing a plasma grenade and it exploded in the face of one Marine, cracking his helm and shattering it, revealing his horned head and snarling mouth with filed teeth.

Ui'Jakob smiled and held the trigger down on his rifle, then relaxing his trigger finger and firing a charge shot at the helmless Marine's head, blackening his face and cauterizing his eyes. The Marine cursed out loud in anger and begun firing blindly, where his brothers intensified with their offense, now charging towards the airlock and causing the Ui'Jakob, La'Tash and the Cornerians to fall back into the cruiser.

"Close the door!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, panicked.

"We still have people on the station," Ui'Jakob protested bitterly, "Fox, Krystal, J…"

He stopped himself when he was about to mention another name, then heard a familiar cry of exertion that comes from swinging a sword, and the sound of steel piercing steel. Fox and company had made it to the hangar, with Jacques having gone ahead and flung himself at the Chaos Marines once the Cornerian went back into the cruiser.

The Chaos Marines drew their swords, Jacques immediately slicing across the chest of one of them and tore armor, machinery and flesh all over, then shoulder charging the blind Marine and knocking him down. He then spun around swinging his sword and thrusting it through the chest of another. Another Marine drove his blade into Jacques' side through the armor just above his hip and piercing his black carapace.

He gritted his teeth and swung his shoulder, striking him across the head then pointing his storm bolter in his face and blasting him, splattering his brains all over the shipping containers. He then exhaled gently and gripped the hilt of the short sword sticking into his side and pulled it out, splattering more blood all over the ground, where it mixed with the Chaos Marines' spilt precious red liquid.

Fox, Krystal and the Cornerian soldiers caught up with him, weapons still drawn and ignoring the vast amount of death in the hangar bay in the forms of so many pirate and Cornerian bodies. Krystal tried not to react to Jacques' being wounded, having noticed the blood seeping out the side of his torso…

"JA…!"

…she caught herself as she almost shouted out his name out loud, clamping her mouth shut and blinking away tears that threatened to fall.

She had realized that Ever since Jacques had returned to Lylat that week ago, she found that she couldn't stop herself reacting to Jacques either getting hurt or getting scorned, always taking it upon herself to be there for him to lend a comforting hand or shoulder. Krystal knew that he shrugged such injuries off, but still she found herself constantly fretting over him, even though she shouldn't as this was war, they were soldiers and death loomed over each one of their heads.

But then again she couldn't help herself, as she had silently vowed to protect him. A best friend or sister is always meant to worry about protect about those closest to her, right? But when she thought of Fox…she could describe _what_ she felt for him ever since they broke up and she was dismissed from Star Fox. It was a mixture of sorrow and resentment that always made her feel angry, both with him and herself.

"Jacques!" Fox panted, breathless from running, "What…?"

"The area secured," Jacques said, "We must leave. Me and Krystal will escape with the Cornerian…"

"Yeah, yeah!" Fox raised a hand as he looked down at his feet as he gulped down hard, "But…goddammit, Jacques!"

He looked up at him, tiredly and angrily.

"Stop running ahead of us!" he exclaimed again, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Jacques sounded equally tired and bored when he replied, much to Fox and Krystal's shock, "Is that an issue?"

"Wha…an…an issue?"

The whole station suddenly rocked when something struck it from the side.

_Aw shit!_ Falco yelled over the com, _Flying rotting museum pieces are just coming out of warp outside the sector! Really big ones!_

Fox growled bitterly, "Suppose this is the part where we run away?"

"To fight another day," Jacques added, "Tactical retreat, Fox."

"Yeah, whatever!" the captain cried hurriedly, "We got troopers and civvies to speed out of here! So let's…"

----------

"Watch out Slippy…"

At that moment a rapidly approaching Slaughter class cruiser bared down on the station, it's various lascannon and missile turrets firing wildly at the Arwings. Falco cursed as a missile exploded just near him, causing his fighter to nearly spiral out of control.

Falco heard Slippy shriek over the com as he regained control, _Fox… seriously, we have to go NOW!"_

----------

"You heard the frog, McCloud!" the captain said, "We're out of here!"

Fox nodded, "Right. Good luck!"

"FOX!"

Fox then darted off back towards the center of the hangar, Krystal shouting after him and scowling.

"Where are you going?"

She felt a steel gauntlet grab her by the shoulder and pull her into the airlock and onto the lower decks of the cruiser, finding herself amongst nearly a hundred Cornerian soldiers and civilians huddling against one another, desperately trying to provide comfort following such an horrendous ordeal. Her eyes lit up anxiously as the ship's airlock closed.

Getting her bearing back, she exclaimed at the person dragging her away, "Jacques!"

The captain grabbed his communicator and shouted, "Bridge, we're on board! Take off…!"

_Roger…hold tight everyone._

The hull of the cruiser rumbled as the ship detached itself from the side of the station, it's boosting igniting and slowly accelerating away from the doomed space station. Back on board Fox ran through the hangar back to where he had landed his Arwing. Eden was still drawn and ready to hack down any rotten tin can that stood in his way.

Luckily the hangar was deserted, save for the multitudes of bodies everywhere. The Arwing's canopy opened and he dove in, sheathing Eden and dropping it underneath his seat. He then initiated his Arwing's G-Diffuser and lifted off from the hangar floor and towards space, going through the force field bubble and into the black.

He quickly circled around the station to see the Cornerian cruiser detaching from the side of the station.

"Slippy, Falco, back to the Great Fox. We're out of here."

_Roger._

_On our way._

Amidst the wreckage of several dozen pirate starships the Arwings sailed across the void back to the Great Fox II. Star Fox's Dreadnought-class flagship and the Cornerian cruiser accelerated as fast as their plasma drives would allows, the warp tears appeared outside Sargasso grew larger as an entire Chaos warfleet appeared out of Warp space, several hundred Chaos Claw and tainted Cornerian fighters appeared out of the warp.

Before they had the chance to overwhelm the fleeing Lylatian ships, the both of them immediately entered warp space and phased out of the Sargasso zone.

The Chaos warfleet was an awe-inspiring, yet twisted sight to behold. Dozens of massive ancient warships of various gothic designs dwarfed the Sargasso station where even the smallest battlecruiser could easily smash through the station and sustain minimal damage. On board a Desolater-class starship at the very back of this fleet the Despoiler himself stood on the grotesque, gory, gothic parody of a room known as the bridge, surrounded by his Chosen.

The Sorcerer Zeraphiston had the fingers of his right hand pressed against his forehead, before releasing it and exhaled.

"The artifact has been destroyed," the Sorcerer declared, "Gambino has failed."

Abaddon movements around his shoulders suggested he shrugged, and his tone of voice suggested his apathy.

"No matter. There are others still to be found, so long as there are those who serve evil! NAVIGATOR!"

_Warmaster!_ a twisted, sickly voice responded over the communication system which reverberated around the room, presumably the Astropath.

"Set a course for Venom, the original source of Chaos in this system," Abaddon ordered, smiling maliciously, "It is time we ended this pathetic war against the beast-xeno and begin our conquest of the False Emperor's realm!"

* * *

(1) "Those who oppose the word of Chaos, those who survive the destruction of this pitiful space station by our tainted lances shall have their flesh torn off and made to bound our prayer books."


	4. Chapter 3: Taint On The Homefront

**Disclaimer: See the Prologue**

_Standing in the doorway with my coat hanging over my left arm while holding a smoking boltpistol in my right hand; I address you, dear reader, through the bloody and hollowed out head of anime/manga character Sasuke Uchiha_

_GamerJay: (smirking) Sorry I'm late._

_Sasuke's body topples backwards into a pool of his own blood and brain matter_

_GamerJay: (holstering boltpistol) Enjoy this chapter._

* * *

Chapter 3 – Taint on the Homefront

* * *

Though the world was deemed habitable by the high authority on Corneria, one can understandably believe that observation was misguided just be spending a minute on the surface of the ice world. Though it's weather control station kept the temperature and weather conditions at reasonably safe and bearable levels, one must consider if staying on Fichina for the long term was a good idea. In case of the event that this technology fails and the planet would be buried under more layers of snow just like it did thousands of years before.

However those that did live on the planet had decided to play everything to chance, mostly because of the fact that the Aerodynamics Academy was located on Fichina, which was safely underneath a large dome made up of hexagons fastened together. The dozens of other communities scattered around the planet were mostly located below the surface away from the snow and the storms. A few of them were underneath the comfort and safety of a dome…and those few were the first to be targeted by the wretched disease-ridden monstrosities of the Death Guard Chaos Space Marine legion.

The coming of the Death Guard was quiet, as they had no battle cry, for disease like in real life was swift as well as silent. The populations at the settlements beneath the domes found that while they were suitable protecting them from the elements of the planet, they weren't as good as protecting them from the servants of the Patron God of Disease and Rot, Nurgle. Bolter fire, artillery and the disease-ridden hordes burnt down the domes as the snow came down upon them and set upon the innocent like a plague. Those that hadn't died instantly from a rusty, pus-coated power sword had slowly and painfully decayed upon being exposed to the Death Eater.

That was according to the mission reports garnered from the Cornerian and Imperial forces currently stationed on the planet, which were currently read by General Lukas Alexander, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Cadian 412th stationed on Fichina. Brown-haired, forty years old, optical implant installed over his right eye and dressed in ornate carapace armor over his uniform with his red cape or raiment on his back. His life had taken strange turns following his ousting from his seat of power on the planet Kronus a decade earlier, where back then he had been known as 'Governor-Militant.'

If it wasn't called the most outrageous, violent political scandal in all of Segmentum Ultima then there was nothing else at all that could describe it. It was like the whole Blood Ravens chapter had descended upon the planet in search of revenge ten years after their defeat at the hands of the Governor-Militant, not caring about what scrutiny would come their way courtesy of the Inquisition or Imperial Guard High Command. Alexander and much of the 1st Kronus were lucky to escape from the planet using ships from the Imperial Navy detachment situated in the Kronus sector. Once they were safely away, the former Governor-Militant asserted his authority over the starships and their own officers and Astropaths.

Knowing death awaited them for retreating before the enemy Alexander and his staff elected to continue drifting along the stars, to find a battle or war worth fighting to regain their honor. There they fell in with the small fleet of the Children of Eden, the remainder of the planet Eden destroyed by Exterminatus courtesy of the Inquisition. At first Alexander was pressed by his officers to destroy them but instead they combined forces, seeing how the universe was such a big place and most likely ruled by the entire Imperium.

Then one fateful day, Eden's Lost and Kronus' exiles stumbled across the dazed and confused Grey Knight known as Jacques Mortensen…

"My Lord…!"

Alexander's head shot up from the papers he was reading behind the steel desk in the small office, hearing banging on his door. He narrowed his eyes tiredly and said calmly, "It's open, Colonel."

In stepped a bald, blue-eyed, thin-nosed man in his early forties outfitted in Kasrkin carapace armor, hellpistol energy backpack with attached hellpistol on his back.

He saluted, "We've got a serious problem, my lord."

"Every problem we have _is_ serious," Alexander muttered as he stood from his desk, "What is it?"

"Xeno science team returning to the Academy," Vash explained, "Com chatter indicates one of them is a Cornerian fleet officer."

Alexander growled as he walked out of the room with Vash in tow, taking a left and going down some stairs towards a corridor with doors leading into other offices, guarded by Cadian 412th Guardsmen, who saluted when he strode past them.

Now angry, Alexander said, "I thought that bear ordered no more research teams to go out now that the heretics control half this damned ball of ice!"

"He did, sir," Vash explained hurriedly. "But obviously this one team breached quarantine protocols, and obviously thought they could sneak back in!"

"Where are they now?"

"Main garage and air lock, sir."

Alexander grimaced, "I want the head of Academy security here with Cornerian hazmat soldiers with flamers waiting for us. We'll deal with this personally."

Vash nodded and tapped his earpiece communicator, then he remembered…

"What about Commissar Voric?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, or us."

----------

The slender yellow furred, purple suited fennec vixen felt her knees and back beginning to ache as she knelt on the hard, steel floor of the garage bay with her hands behind her head besides several other captive Cornerians, each wearing winter clothing over protective flak vests. They and their snow-adapted All-Terrain Vehicle resembling a cross between a jeep and a power sleigh was surrounded by Cornerian security guards and Imperial Guardsmen armed with lasguns and flamers trained on the science detachment. The faint smell of tobacco whiffed through the air as one of these Guardsmen, a sergeant, lit a cigarette as he looked over their captives.

With a sneer, he spat to the side and replaced the lid on his lighter, "You xeno eggheads are in real deep shit, you know that?"

Obviously fearful because of the presence of humans and Cornerian pointing guns at them, one of the scientists - a female skunk wearing glasses with the namtag O. Gregory, said quietly, "We…we're just…"

"Just WHAT, Ophelia?"

She looked up to see an approaching polar bear dressed in a white security officer's uniform with the letter F imprinted on the left breast of his uniform. The female skunk eyes widened and she looked hopeful, as if she knew this officer, but her hopes were quickly dashed as he frowned.

"Mason?"

"Just trying to get yourselves killed?" the officer known as Mason demanded angrily, drawing attention from the Corneria and human guards present, "God, didn't you remember the security and quarantine measures preventing all personnel at the Academy from leaving the dome? They were only put in place a week ago!"

"I'm…I'm sorry," Ophelia Gregory cried, "But we heard over the coms that one of the Imperial ambush squads managed to secure a Chaos controlled science post and I thought…"

"That you could salvage your research, xeno?" a thin, yet well built Commissar, black-haired, brown-eyed and with a large scar running horizontally down the left side of his face announced loudly as he stepped into the garage along with two Commissariat cadet Guardsmen.

"You unrelenting and xeno-heretical scientific progress is worth more than your lives?" the Commissar continued, "You may as well have signed your own death warrants. You should have listened to the people meant to protect you."

He then turned to the security chief known as Mason.

"And the Imperium's interests on this planet."

Mason narrowed his eyes and smirked tiredly, "Commissar Voric."

"Mason," Commissar Voric nodded towards him, "You finally decide to keep a straight face in my presence, to show me respect?"

"Why not?" Mason still smirked, "It'll do no good to piss you reds off."

"You are right about that," Voric commented dryly, then turned his attention to the female vixen. "And who is this?"

"No idea," Mason responded.

The vixen found that she couldn't respond, as if an indescribable amount of fear had overwhelmed her, which may stem from the amount of humans present in the room and how they were giving her flashbacks of her destroyed homeworld so many years ago.

"She is…a Cornerian pilot," Ophelia responded, her knees beginning to cramp. "She just crashed near the Academy."

"Cornerian fleet?" Voric said as he stepped up to her and grasped her face carefully, making eye contact with her. "Why aren't you still in the air, vixen? Why are you here on this insufferable fleck of ice?"

He quickly grew impatient when she didn't answer right away, much to his chagrin. He moved his hand down to her throat and begun to squeeze, causing her to choke. Her eyes darted wildly at the Cornerian guards present, but to her horror they just stood there watching, guns still aimed at her and the scientists. She then looked up to see him narrow his eyes down at her.

"Answer me."

"VORIC!"

The Commissar rolled his eyes in annoyance and let go of the vixen, standing up straight and dusting off his crimson greatcoat, then turning to greet Alexander and Vash.

"General Alexander," Voric greeted him and removed the hat from his head, as if reserving only respect for him. "I was wondering when you were going to join the welcoming party _you_ organized?"

"You can put your hat back on, Commissar," Alexander said morosely, then he addressed the chief of security. "Mason?"

"They're all here and accounted for, Alexander," the bear replied, then he crossed his arms and turned to Ophelia. "Right?"

The skunk shook her head and answered, "No, actually."

She gulped.

"Trevor is lying in the back of the ATV," Ophelia explained, "At the outpost we were attacked by some diseased monster and got it all over his leg…"

"ARGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

A shrill, garbled scream came out from the ATV as the doors were flung open and out fell another scientist. One of the Guardsmen immediately turned away and threw up, the sight of the disease-ridden vulpine with a hideous growth on his left leg too much for him to handle. Oozing Pustules, weeping ulcers and other assorted skin afflictions covered him like a sheet, showing through his fur and dripping onto the floor.

Everyone present immediately backed off, the scientists getting up off from the floor and getting behind the Cornerian and Imperial guards, except for the vixen who remained kneeling there, eyes still on the ground as if disregarding the horror some feet away behind her.

"FRAK ME! EMPEROR'S BLOOD!" another of the Guardsmen shouted, "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!"

Voric produced his boltpistol out of it's leather hostler. Alexander pulled out his laspistol as Vash rushed forward and grabbed the vixen by the shoulder…

"Stupid xeno!" he exclaimed roughly as he pulled her to her feet, "Get up!"

The moaning afflicted scientist suddenly rushed towards them, arms forward as if begging them to help him. Vash noticed a sudden glint in the vixen's eyes, then slender furry hands reach for the hellpistol in his left hand and relieve him off it…

"HEY!"

…then she turned around and aimed the hellpistol at the scientist and held the trigger, firing away at his legs and melting them from under him, causing him to the fall to the ground with his feet still standing. The guards with the flamers turned up the heat, unleashing hellfire upon the fallen scientist and burning the scientist to the point where there was nothing left save for ash.

The screams from the poor scientist were horrible to hear, mostly to Ophelia who watched her colleague be put out of her misery. A slap was heard as the vixen fell to the ground, rubbing the left side of her face and Vash standing above her, his hellpistol back in his possession.

"Thieving xeno!" Vash growled, "Taking my gun! Should've left you there to rot…"

"Phoenix."

All attention was now on the previously silent vixen as she stood on her two feet, still rubbing the side of her face and relieving it off the pain Vash inflicted on her.

"Come again?" Alexander said.

"Fara Phoenix," the vixen said, her tone of voice a mixture of feministic annoyance. "That's my name."

Alexander crossed his eyebrows, wondering why she decided to say something now right after purging the rot-infected scientist.

"All right, Phoenix," Voric said. "How is it that you came to be here amongst us instead of up there with the fleet?"

Fara frowned at the Commissar, causing a few of the Guardsmen present to hold their breaths and cringe.

"I was shot down in orbit," Fara explained, "The Cornerian fleet above us has been fighting the Chaos forces for three days now. I was part of the fifth wave of fighters sent in to break the deadlock…"

She then chuckled sadly.

"I'm probably the only one left."

Alexander bit his lip with slight anxiety. If Chaos controlled the space around the planet then nothing would stop them from bombarding the Academy and their other held positions scattered around Fichina. He assumed when Phoenix said 'deadlocked' she meant that both the Cornerian and Chaos armadas were unable to advance upon the other, whether to keep out of the other's firing range or if they were just staring the other down. It could be any reason.

_General._

Alexander's vox communicator beeped…

"Yes."

_Your presence is requested in the com room. General Hare is requesting an audience._

"I will be right there."

Alexander crossed his arms.

"I will assume no other xeno here is tainted?"

"If there was then it be dead already," Voric raised his boltpistol, sounding disappointed with not being able to kill another Lylatian lawfully. "Mason, I charge you with disciplining the scientists here according to your xeno law."

He then looked down at Fara, who was now frowning at him.

"And give the vixen something to do," he sneered. "Keep her out of our way."

Every Imperial present then left the garage, leaving the Lylatians alone. The scientists once again had blasters trained on them.

Ophelia sounded disgusted, "Are you actually doing what the humans tell you?"

Mason narrowed his eyes. "Me and the red were thinking the same thing, actually. You'll be quarantined shortly."

"What about me?" Fara asked. "I don't plan on being a third wheel you know."

"Once you're let out of quarantine you can be useful?"

"Guess I'd have to wait to tell you that while crashing on this oversized snowball I flew over a massive army of freaks marching in the Academy's direction."

The polar bear's eyes widened and he changed his tune, "How massive are we talking?"

----------

"Uhhh…er…?"

This time when she returned to consciousness she last remembered sitting down in the Cornerian troop carrier's infirmary as a doctor shot her up in the arm with painkillers to help her deal with almost a dozen simultaneous migraines the encounter with the Chaos Spawn struck her with. It was such a shock to be doped up like that for the first time in her live that the meds worked a little too well, knocking her out.

She opened her eyes and realised she was leaning her head against Jacques' shoulder as he sat beside her, the two of them alone in this part of the extensive infirmary. The torso plating of his armour was removed which revealed his heavily bandaged and gauzed chest and arms, blood staining the inside of the fabrics. Jacques turned his head to face her, bitterness weighing heavily on his face. The Aegis armour gauntlet covering his prosthetic hand was removed, revealing the silvery endoskeleton underneath. That jolted Krystal awake.

"So you are awake?" Jacques stated.

Krystal leaned off him, staring at him incredulously.

"What happened to _you_?" Krystal asked, eyes on his chest and keeping the bile down.

Jacques snorted, "Past wounds and scars were reopened while fighting that abomination. Many, many past wounds and scars."

He looked at her, concerned.

"How about you?"

"Uh…I'll live. Damn migraines." Krystal mumbled in response, still feeling a bit under. "God, painkillers knocking me out. How embarrassing is that?"

Jacques covered his mouth as he spat into his prothetic hand. When he looked at his palm he saw blood on it. Krystal's eyes widened in horror.

"J…Jacques?"

"Do not fear," Jacques assured her. "I have a scar on the roof of my mouth."

"How did…?"

Jacques narrowed his eyes pensively and looked away from her. "My first year as a Neophyte. You understand."

Krystal nodded. "Sadly."

As she rested on her head on the wall behind her she then thought of something.

"How long have you been sitting beside me?" she asked.

Not looking at her Jacques replied, "No longer than a hour."

He then turned his head to face her.

"That amount of time you spent unconscious."

Stunned, Krystal remembered sitting down once the drugs begun to take effect, Jacques nowhere in the vicinity when she was medicated for the pains in her head. The medicine being nothing more than over-the-counter codeine – stuff used to treat serious pain that often comes with adverse effects for certain people unable to stomach it. These included grogginess, sickness and, for some people, unconsciousness.

'Never taking codeine again,' she rubbed the side of her head. 'Never, never again.'

She then looked back at Jacques questioningly. She was even more questioned when she saw him smile.

"A friend is someone that gives a shoulder to lean on," Jacques said. "It sounds like something meant to be taken out of context."

Krystal stared at him quietly some more, before she broke out in a warm smile and leaned her head back on his shoulder and sighed pleasantly, grateful to have a friend as loyal as him. And with that she also worried, wondering if it was safe for him to continue showing her such friendship and loyalty, for the sake of his dwindling ties with his own species.

Her smile faded when she knew he would be more than happy to sever those ties with humanity, them not being as like minded he is. To her, it didn't seem right to reject your mother species completely.

Her eyes widened when Jacques suddenly stood up from his seat, forcing her to jolt her head back, panicked.

"Jacques!" she exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

The Grey Knight clenched his fists, his face twisted into a determined grimace.

"Chaos," Jacques replied.

"Where?"

"Just behind us," he answered through gritted his teeth. "Following us more like."

"No way. Now?"

----------

Establishing connection…

_Intercepting communication links from…_

_- Admiral Eugene Hancock_

_- Admiral Horatio Nero_

_- General Lukas Alexander_

_- Commander Farsight_

_- General Sturnn_

_- Colonel Andrei Hunterzlot_

_- Colonel Harold Mick_

_- Colonel Wesley O'Reilly_

The satellite dish was the only partially visible structure on the wasteland surface of Venom. Built in the centre of a crater it was half a mile away was the planet's main military installation was located underground and within the mountains and canyon walls. The massive dish realigned itself from its pointing west, now pointing to the north. The Venomian sentries from the surrounding outpost looked up at the dish as it moved itself, subconsciously gripping their blaster rifles in case of any unusual activity that would result of the transmission the Coalition High Command would sent out.

Within the communication centre of the installation Peppy, Calgar and Aun'shi stood before seven holographic projectors that materialised before them in the blue-tinted oval chamber.

"How come Librarian Tigerius and Chaplain Cassius declined to appear for this meeting?" Peppy inquired of the Lord Macragge.

"They have other matters to attend to," Calgar replied. "Such as preparing our brothers for another engagement. The Emperor Incarnatus is holding orbit above Venom and once this exchange is over I will join them."

Peppy nodded. "Understood."

"But what of Praetor Bowman?" Aun'shi asked. "Should he not be here as well? Is he off world?"

"We've been trying to reach him all day," Peppy answered. "All we've received is white noise…"

_Connection established,_ the room's computer announced.

The seven holographic projectors broadcasted images of their respective officers – Hancock, Nero, Alexander, Farsight, Sturnn, Hunterzlot and Mick – from left to right.

_General Hare, sir, _Colonel's O'Reilly and Mick saluted.

Peppy returned the salute. He turned to Admiral Hancock and they each exchanged simultaneous salutes.

_General, you've picked a hell of a time to call for a crisis meeting, _Hancock the black bear replied. _We've got enemy ships just ahead waiting for us to make the first move._

_I agree with the xeno-admiral_, Nero said. _We have wars to fight and no time for pleasantries such as this._

"This is _not_ a pleasantry, Admiral Nero," Calgar said. "We are merely asking for each of your situation reports."

_You just received mine, _Hancock said. _We're engaging enemy forces orbiting Fichina right now, but they have ceased firing their long-range weapons and are just floating there. Out of range of our guns, mind you._

"This is peculiar, indeed," Aun'shi said. "O'Shovah?"

The renegade Fire Caste Commander said above the sounds of tremors, explosvies and gunfire, _The situation on Eladard is intense, but manageable. We have identified the Chaos legion we've engaged as the Iron Warriors – the Chaos Marines specialised in long-range tactics. We can not get close enough to melee…_

He paused, sighing.

…_so we have resorted to using range fire as well._

'Very sad, heartbreaking indeed,' Peppy bitterly and sarcastically thought. "MacBeth?"

_Still under Coalition control, sir, _O'Reilly reported. _Planetary sensors detecting massive Chaos fleet movement in the system, though you've probably already picked it up._

_And yet now they are holding position all over the galactic map, _Nero added. _Reports are coming in of enemy fleet movements declining significantly…_

Allowing us to ferry the 412th to the next conflict zone, General Sturnn interrupted. We're en-route to assist allied forces on Eladard. Colonel…

Hunterszlot was next to speak, _We were pursued by a fleet belonging to an unidentified Traitor legion, sustaining minimal damage, when they had suddenly broke off pursuit._

"And allowing you to escape," Peppy rubbed his chin. "That is strange. Mick?"

_We're holding the line, sir,_ Colonel Mick said, then smirked humorously. _Probably better than anyone else here, heh._

Alarms and klaxons suddenly went off around the communication room, causing Calgar to move his head upward to the roof and the blaring red alarm light.

"Central, report!" Peppy exclaimed into the communicator.

Sir, we've got a major security breach in Sector 31-A, near Camp #4!. Eight-Pointed Star symbol detected…!

"What was that?!" Calgar exclaimed out loud so that the person on the other end of Peppy's communicator could here. "Where?"

----------

Appearing out of warp space, the Great Fox II and the Cornerian transport cruiser were greeted by up to a two dozen Cornerian and Venomian starships in orbit above Venom. The gunnery crews of the ships ahead of the defence fleet breathed a collective sigh of relief, recognising the signatures of both ships. En-route to the bridge of the transport cruiser, Krystal found herself running to meet up with Jacques, who had left her alone ten minute earlier back in the infirmary.

She stepped into the bridge, relieved to see him talking with the ship's captain, a female pink-feathered budgie. She could see Venom through the main window, further relieved to be back in relative safety. That relief faded when Jacques and the captain turned to face her and a feeling of dread washed after her, no doubt projected by the Grey Knight.

"Jacques, captain Vala," Krystal greeted them. "What is the matter?"

"Rear senses had detected a Chaos warfleet bearing down in Venom's direction just before we entered warp space," Jacques explained grimly. "It has been identified as belonging to the Black Legion."

Krystal inhaled sharply with panic. She turned to captain Vala.

The budgie nodded sadly. "We just informed Central, but General Hare is currently indisposed. But we'll definitely seeing some major defensive action around here soon."

"Does Fox and the others know?" Krystal asked.

The communications officer called out from his station, "Ma'am, incoming transmission from Venom ground-side."

"Put it on main screen," Captain Vala ordered, turning around to face the bridge's main screen.

Peppy's worn, grim visage was projected on the main screen of the bridge. Jacques Krystal exchanged sudden glances, Krystal worried about the elder hare and how the war was physically, visibly affecting him.

"General Hare," Vala saluted.

_You've finally returned_, Peppy said. _I wish it was under better circumstances._

"What has happened during our absence?" Jacques inquired.

_Better not be too bad,_ Falco suddenly interjected, signalling that the Great Fox was linked up to the com as well. _Or at least not war-turning-in-enemy's-favour bad._

Peppy closed his eyes and shook his head sadly.

_There is a Chaos presence on Venom,_ Peppy explained. _Not far from the subterranean refugee camps._

Collective gasps were heard around the bridge and Krystal subconsciously reached for Jacques' hand, fright upon her face when she thought of so many innocent people – men, women and children, sitting on their hands waiting to hear the news of the war and what it would mean for them. Her heart ached at the thought of Chaos being set upon so many innocent people.

Jacques peered down at his right hand, noticing Krystal's hand entwined with his. His eyes narrowed, intrigued.

_That's _bad_, _Fox commented.

_How bad? _Slippy sounded panicked. _How's dad and Amanda?_

_They're fine, Slip,_ Peppy assured him. _Camps and facilities surrounding the area in question are being evacuated. Cassius is organising a squad of Terminators to eliminate whatever threat there is before it gets too big to handle._

Jacques opened his mouth to comment…

_And since Jacques is the only person carrying any anti-daemon weapon he'll be needed as well._

Knowing Nemesis was the only sword that can effectively vanquish daemons, Jacques nodded. "That is true."

Captain Vala turned to him and stated, "Take a shuttle and get down there. You're not of any use up here right now."

Jacques nodded and stormed out of the room. Krystal turned to the screen.

"I'm going down there too, Peppy," Krystal said.

_Alright, then_.

Vala gritted her teeth as Krystal followed after Jacques. "Sir, with all due respect we may have bigger problems."

Wasn't the Sargasso Operation a success?

_Not without drawing the attention of the entire Chaso fleet! _Fox exclaimed. _They're on their way to Venom right now._

_Are…are you sure, Fox?"_

----------

"That's what the sensors are telling us. About a dozen ships…mostly big ones."

Peppy's disembodied head floating above the holographic projector appeared resigned. _I suppose Abaddon has had enough playing with us._

Fox crossed his arms as he sat before the projector, frowning.

"We'll be ready for him, Peppy," Fox vowed. "You can count on it."

_We'll be ready, also!_ Peppy replied.

With those words the Cornerian and Venomian fleets holding orbit above Venom suddenly moved themselves into defensive formations while the defence stations powered their cannon, aiming them towards where the incoming Chaos fleet is bound to attack. Various patrolling fighter wings returned to their stations to refuel, and rearm their weapons to better suit fighting archaic Chaos fighters and capital ships.

Slippy looked out the window seeing all this unfold and felt a very nagging fear at the back of his mind.

"I…I can't stay here."

"Say what?" Falco addressed him.

"I can't be here for this next skirmish," Slippy explained, struggling to keep his voice from shaking. "I…I don't think I can last another dogfight today. Besides, my dad…"

Fox nodded and sighed, closing his eyes and leaning further into his chair.

"You can go, Slip."

Slippy smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Fox."

Slippy headed to the doorway to leave when he stopped, realising something.

"Falco?"

"Yeah?"

He turned around to face the avian.

"Aren't you worried about Katt?"

Falco shrugged, "She can handle herself down there."

Slippy frowned, "Say what?"

Falco smirked. "I'm surprised you're headin' down there especially when Peppy mentioned 'Chaos.'"

Slippy's eyes widened, "Wha…what are you…?"

Fox rolled his eyes when Falco prattled on, "Just saying that it's not you to head where those Chaos freaks are. I mean you always stick to the background or stay in the air…"

Angry, Slippy crossed his arms.

"Do you have to go on, Falco?"

Falco shrugged. "I'm just saying."

----------

"Krystal!"

Just as they were about to board the Cornerian shuttle in the hangar bay of the Cornerian starship, Jacques and Krystal stopped and turned around to see Ui'Jakob and La'Tash running up to them, dressed in full Tau Fire Warrior uniform and armour. Ui'Jakob had the white shoulder pad to signal his rank.

"Jakob?" Krystal stepped forward to greet the Gue'vesa'Shas'la. "Do you need something?"

"We're coming with you," Ui'Jakob said. "We have heard what has transpired on the surface of MacBeth. Our team stationed on Venom with the require my leadership."

Krystal smiled, "Well we're heading down there."

Jakob nodded appreciatively. He gave Jacques a brief apprehensive glare as they boarded the shuttle, the door closing behind them. A minute later the shuttle took off and exited the hanger of the starship into space.

Krystal stared at her retracted golden Cerinian staff pensively as it rested in her flat palms. She studied the elegant, masterly crafted elemental weapon carefully, remembering how many times it saved her life and vanquished the forces of darkness. She remembered that it was Jacques that had given it to her just as he had evacuated her off the face of Cerinia when the planet was about to be destroyed. She remembered that it had been the closest thing she had for a friend for the remainder of her childhood and her adolescent.

And she remembered how deadly the staff when it the right hands. In her hands it could bend the elements to her will. It did the same for Fox, also that he used to deliver such punishment up close to his enemies. With Jacques, however, he seemed to be able to bring out the staff full power; having unleashed the Warrior Spirit of Cerinia, also known as the Soul Blaster, on three occasions that year ago. For Jacques to have used such a sacred, planet-shaking psychic attack he would have to be one of the most powerful psykers to ever exist.

_Cornerian shuttle, this is Slippy Toad, _Slippy's voice shook Krystal from her thoughts. _I need to head to the surface. You mind giving me a lift?_

"This is Shuttle 1…under whose authority?" the pilot was heard to say.

_My authority, Cornerian shuttle, _Fox said over the shuttle communication system. _He's been granted leave._

"Roger that. Coming into attach and dock at western airlock. Have Toad wait for us there. Shuttle 1 out."

----------

Two minutes later Slippy smiled as he saw Krystal, Jacques, Ui'Jakob and La'Tash when he stepped into the passenger cabin of the shuttle, which was currently attached to the side of the Great Fox II.

"Hello Slippy," Jakob greeted him with a smile.

"Hey Jake," Slippy waved at him.

Ui'Jakob raised his eyebrows. "Jake?"

"Uh…" Slippy felt awkward. "Isn't 'Jake' short for 'Jakob?'"

Ui'Jakob rolled his eyes over at La'Tash and he pondered on his name, the Tau simply shrugged. He had never stopped to think about his own name and how deep and complicated it could appear to be. Slippy then turned to Krystal.

"Krystal."

"Slippy," Krystal acknowledged him. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"You too," Slippy nodded. "Wish the situation were a bit better, though."

He sat down beside Jakob opposite Krystal and Jacques. The Grey Knight noticed an aura of dread emanate from the frog.

"Is there something the matter, Slippy?" Jacques addressed him.

"Huh?" Slippy looked up at his Astartes companion. "Oh…just thinking."

"About what?"

Slippy looked away, cringing slightly and cursing Jacques' inquisitive nature.

"I'm just worried about Fox is all. He's thrown off more than usual and everyone knows why."

Krystal lowered her eyes sadly, looking at the floor and thinking about the orange vulpine.

"He won't do a thing about it?" Ui'Jakob queried, then said to the blue vixen. "Krystal?"

Krystal sighed tiredly, before unbuckling her restraints and sitting up from her seat. This surprised everyone, except Jacques.

"Krystal."

"Jacques."

Gripping her staff tightly, she stretched her hand holding it to Jacques and dropped it into his waiting palms. She then stepped out of the cabin and onto the Great Fox II, much to the confusion of Ui'Jakob and Slippy. Jacques didn't look surprised.

"Mortensen, may I ask what was _that_ about?" Jakob asked.

Jacques frowned, "McCloud will hopefully be brought out of his stupor. If not, then I no longer pity him. PILOT…we are done here!"

"Alright," the pilot called back. "Next stop, Central!"

----------

"Krystal!"

Fox was surprised to say the least when Krystal stepped onto the bridge of the Great Fox II at the same time the Cornerian shuttle flew by the main window of the bridge. Falco smirked as he rolled his eyes between both vulpine and vixen, a cigarette dangling in his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Fox asked her, standing up from his seat. "I…"

"I wanted to see you Fox," Krystal said calmly. "Before today we haven't said a word to each other for almost a week."

Fox downcast his eyes. "I…I just needed time, because…"

Krystal shook her head as she stepped closely until she a few metres away from him. "I didn't need any though. I missed you. I was so worried about you."

Fox acknowledged her with a nod. "I was worried about you too."

He then frowned.

"And I thought you were on Venom this whole time."

Krystal crossed her arms and raised and raised an eyebrow. "And do nothing? I would never do that, Fox. And you know it!"

"And so does Jacques!" Fox replied heatedly. "I've still got bruises on my shoulders from last week when he pushed me against the wall."

"I know," Krystal said, then argued. "And this has nothing to do with him."

"Not according to him," Fox said. "He looked ready to kill me. And I'm afraid he might kill me if he finds out I'm arguing with you right now."

Krystal narrowed her eyes angrily. "Stop mentioning him, Fox! This is about me and you now!"

"It is!" Fox yelled at her. "And I keep telling you stay away from the fighting…!"

Falco cleared his throat, which caught both their attention. Krystal's eyes widened at the sight of the smoking avian lounging in his chair.

"Falco, you're smoking?" Krystal queried.

"Just to get your attention," Falco stated. He then said, "Look will you two just cut this bullshit out already? You're worse than those Imperials arguing over whose going to burn us at the stake first."

He then blew out some smoke.

"But seriously we've got problems, guys," he continued. "And it's getting closer to us by the second."

Fox and Krystal looked at one another worriedly. The vulpine nodded and sat back down by Krystal grabbed a nearby chair and rested herself as well.

"Yeah," Fox sighed. "We better get in touch with any com lines going around on Venom. See how bad this Chaos taint in the caverns really is. Hey Krystal?"

"Yes Fox?"

"You think Jacques can handle it?"

----------

Chief Librarian Tigerius' withered; aged face was in deep concentration as he stood in the centre of his personal chamber on board the Ultramarine Battle Barge Emperor Incarnatus. Several large machinery hanging from the ceiling were hooked up to his psychic hood, enhancing his already impressive mental and psychic prowess and extending it beyond the Battle Barge, which currently orbited Venom behind the defence zone.

Several acolytes stood nearby, heads bowed in silent prayer and ready to attend to the Librarian if malicious forces from beyond the material realm should attempt to assault or claim him.

'The Despoiler approaches,' Tigerius thought. 'He has chosen this time to personally lead his fleet out of Lylat and unto the Emperor's realm. But not if we, the Sons of Guilliman, have anything to say about it.'

He then opened his eyes.

'And so does McCloud.'

He then frowned.

'Dash Bowman. What are you up to? I would read your mind, but for some peculiar reason I can not.'

----------

Slippy practically bounded off the shuttle as it reached to port in one of the docking bays built into the canyons closest to central command on Venom. The others followed calmly after him, upon stepping onto the platform they were greeted by a squad of Cornerian soldiers. They became visibly in awe when Jacques approached them.

One of the soldiers gulped and stated, "Jacques Mortensen?"

"Aye?"

"We are instructed to escort you to Sector-31A. The Chaplain and Terminators are standing by near the conflict zone."

Gripping Krystal's staff in his left hand the Grey Knight commanded, "Take me there."

Jacques followed the soldiers as they walked out of the docking bay and through large doors built into the rock, leaving Slippy, Jakob and Tash behind him.

"I hope things don't get too ugly," Slippy commented. He then addressed the two Tau, "Where are you gonna go?"

"Back to our team," Ui'Jakob said. "They are most likely still in the Tau barracks near…near…"

"Sector 2-B?" Tash reminded him.

"Yes," Jakob then questioned, "And you?"

Slippy smiled as he walked away also, "My girl, that's me. See you around."

The Fire Warriors watched Slippy disappear through another door quietly, almost bewildered. They couldn't remember the last time that they saw him act so up beat and…happy.

"Hope he enjoys being happy for the time being," La'Tash crossed his arms. "My experience tells me it won't last long."

Ui'Jakob sighed, "Nothing ever does."

----------

The pink-skinned, yellow-haired, red bowtie wearing Amanda was jolted from her restless nap across her desk by the sound of loud knocking on the door of her quarters. Shaking the figurative cobwebs from her brain she got up and walked over to the door, rubbing her eyes as she opened it. The door slid open, but through her still tired stupor she didn't recognise who it was as she rubbed her eyes.

"Look it's 3:00am, I just finished my rounds at the science labs and I just want to sleep," she complained. "I thought the people here didn't have to comply with the evacuation order…"

"Amanda, er…it's…me?"

Amanda's eyes widened when she recognised that voice. Right there and then she woke up completely and to her all was right with the world. She proved it by throwing herself on Slippy, covering his mouth with her in a long, passionate kiss.

Some distance the elder frog felt his chest and legs hurt from running all the way from the science labs to the living quarters designated for scientists. Beltino Toad had dropped everything that he had been doing to the protest of his fellow scientists upon hearing that his son had returned to Venom. He guessed where he would go first and immediately went off to meet up with him.

He immediately turned red with embarrassment and looked away when he saw his son fighting to gently push Amanda off himself, the girl frog unrelenting in expressing how much she missed Slippy while at the same time depriving him of oxygen. When she finally broke the kiss, Slippy began gulping in air rather painfully.

"A…Amanda…whoa," he cried breathlessly, with a large goofy smile plastered on his face. "S…Sorry I was gone so long…"

He stopped talking when she hugged him and buried her head in his chest, sobbing gently.

"Amanda?"

"I…I thought you wouldn't come back," she sobbed. "I've had bad dreams."

Slippy immediately felt guilty, held her even tighter.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. The guys needed me."

"I know that," Amanda whispered, then looked up at him and smiled. "And you don't need to apologise."

Slippy smiled, then looked over at Beltino. His father smiled and stepped towards them, where he and his son embraced tightly.

"Heh, thought you'd still be in the lab," Slippy pulled back as he spoke. "You didn't reply to any of my message for three days."

Beltino looked at him apologetically. "We were on to something that could save lives out there. But…"

He put his arms across the shoulders of both Slippy and Amanda and stepped towards the door to her quarters.

"…you're here now, Slippy. And I think we should spend as much time as we can together before the hordes come to tear us apart."

Slippy nervously smiled and said, "Uh…when you say 'tear us apart' do you mind figuratively or…?"

Sirens went off as Venomian riot control vehicles drove by the living quarters complex, with Venomian militay personnel in marching by nines beside them. Slippy untangled himself from his father's hold and shouted out to them.

"Hey! What's going on?"

One of the officers called back to them through a megaphone, "Helping the skinnies and the dogs escort the Mortensen to the forbidden door! A whole freakin' crowd turned out to see the Grey Knight, thinkin' he's the most holy of holies himself!"

Slippy's eyes widened. He glanced over at Amanda and Beltino, then without a word he ran off towards the caverns.

Amanda panicked. "Slippy, where are you going!"

Slippy cried back, "I'm gonna get over being scared of Chaos once and for all, that's where!"

Beltino and Amanda looked at one another, shocked; before Amanda took after him, much to the elder frog's continued shock.

"WAIT FOR ME, SLIPPY!"

----------

"MAKE WAY FOR THE GREY KNIGHT!"

"OUTTA THE WAY, CIVILIAN!"

"MOVE YOUR ASS, XENO!"

Kronus 1st Guardsmen and Cornerian riot control cleared the way through the crowd for Jacques as he walked towards the conflict area of Sector-31A of the caverns. The Grey Knight was bewildered to see so many Cornerian and Venomian refugees still present in the area, gazing at him with bewildered, hopeful eyes. He even noticed a blonde-haired mother wolf performing the sign of the cross as he passed by her and her little daughter who was dressed in a slightly dirty yellow dress.

"You have quite the fanbase here, Commander," one of the Guardsmen addressed him smirkingly. "All these xenos turning out to see you kick daemon ass."

Jacques grunted, "Hopefully I will not have to."

Up ahead he saw Cassius and the accompanying squad of Space Marines encased in Tactical Dreadnought power armour, also known as Terminators. A yard ahead of them was an electronic door that had leather covering over it with the Eight-Pointed Star cut into it. He frowned when he sensed that following close behind him and pushing through the crowd were Slippy and Amanda, hand-in-hand…

"'cuse me, pardon me…outta the way, please…Jacques, HEY JACQUES, WAIT UP!"

They were suddenly pushed back by the Cornerians in riot control gear, Slippy briefly catching a glimpse of Jacques approaching the Ultramarines Ultramarine Master of Sanctity Chaplain Cassius. The current oldest Ultramarine had unsettled Slippy from the very start, at first from his partially cybernetic face but now it was his unyielding zealotry and blistering xenophobia.

Jacques saw that of the squad of five Terminators present two of them were armed with flame-throwers, perfect for close-quarter incineration, before directing his gaze towards Cassius, whose grim demeanour and evident discomfort with being around the Grey Knight was right there on his face.

"Cassius," he greeted him.

"Mortensen," Cassius replied. "You brought it upon yourself to leave the side of the Cerinian?"

"She is in orbit," Jacques answered. "She is of more use up there in her Arwing then down here at the moment."

"Fascinating judgement of character on your part," Cassius replied as he tapped his vox-communicator. "Let us hope you do not regret it."

Base security here. We've accessed the system controlling the door. Look's like it hasn't been used for years

"Open the door," Cassius ordered. "Then close it behind us, lest Chaos takes physical form and attempts to loose itself in these damned caverns."

The Eight-Pointed Star door opened slowly as an atmosphere of dread blanketed the area. As they were held back by the Kronus 1st the crowds watched as Jacques, Cassius and the Terminators stepped through the cursed doorway. Slippy and Amanda were among the crowd, the green frog silently praying that Jacques come out in one piece, physically and mentally. Slippy gulped and clutched Amanda's hand a bit tighter.

For some reason he had the insane wish that he wanted be able to go in there as well, so that if pure Chaos were definitely in there he would have the chance to face this evil head on and Jacques would make sure nothing would happen to him. He was tired of being considered the weak-willed member of Star Fox, the one not as brave as the courageous team leader, the cynical ace pilot or the zealous heavy weapons guy.

Slippy tapped his communicator, silently swearing that he would change that the first chance he got. And that chance was just a few yards ahead of him.

"Fox…hey, you guys…"

----------

Jacques' gone in, you guys. Him, Cassius and a squad of those Terminator Marines. Oh no, the door's closed behind them.

Fox, Krystal, and Falco sat on the bridge and around the hologram projector as it displayed Slippy's speaking head. Krystal sat nervously on the edge of the seat while Krystal switched glances between her and the projector. Briefly Fox displayed a hint of concern for her, but that was quashed almost instantaneously as those uncontrollable feelings of bitterness towards her sank in.

Fox sighed mentally, ashamed to be feeling mad at her.

"Wonder how long'll take for Jacques to start kicking daemon ass in there?" Falco crossed his arms as he spoke. "This is big, really big. I mean…"

He smacked his forehead humorlessly.

"…how long has that Chaos-studded door being down there without anyone noticing it?"

Krystal growled, causing Fox's fur to stand on end. "This proves that Venom knows a lot more about the Void then they let on."

"Hey Slip'?" Falco said. "You're not planning on going in there with them, are you?"

Surprised, Slippy stated, _Why?_

"Oh, I don't know?" Falco replied, rolling his eyes. "About what I said earlier…you didn't take that personally, did you?"

The hologram suddenly and mysteriously flickered off.

"What the…?" Fox cried. "ROB?"

"Senses detecting unknown energy sources outside Venomian defence zone," ROB reported. "They are interfering with communications."

Falco got up from his seat. "We know what that means, don't we?"

"Yeah," Fox replied. "We've got incoming!"

----------

Few things in life ever made Jacques visibly lose his composure, partially thanks to his indoctrination courtesy of the Adeptus Astartes. But now since that particularly mental strength was starting to wane he couldn't help but looked shock at the sight of rotting Venomian corpses scattered along the hallway which was illuminated by the dull ceiling lights, dried blood and gore splattered on the floor and walls.

What flesh and muscle was left on the face of the apes and lizards revealed distorted, grotesque looks of shock, possibly at whatever it was that ripped them to shreds and left their corpses to rot for who knows how long. Years, decades maybe.

'Decades?' one of the Terminator's thought. 'Bodies can rot for that long?'

"It is official," Cassius was grim as his voice broke the silence. "The apes were damned since the beginning of time itself."

Jacques appeared to agree, his grim visage being followed by drawing Nemesis from it's sheath on his back, gripping it with his right hand as the staff extended in his left hand. His eyes back and forth, scanning each of the bodies and besides noticing the flesh was still rotting that whatever was left on them was covered in blasphemous symbols – the various marks and brands of Chaos and it's dark, twisted deities.

The Terminators kept their storm bolters primed in case something leapt at them, but in this narrow barely lit hallway with another door at the other end it was mostly likely to spring at them from the corpses or even the dark shadows of the hallway.

The reached the other door, which automatically opened and revealed another hallway, this time filled with cells on both ends with various moans and groans coming from each of the cells. Jacques gritted his teeth and held Nemesis with both hands as he stepped forward out of the doorway to catch a glimpse of the first cell's occupant.

"By the Emperor…!"

It was a Venomian ape. A badly mutated, taint-ridden abomination with one half of the Venomian taken up by a daemon which appeared to be clawing out of the ape's side. Cassius' gripped his Crozius Arcanum as he and the Terminators stepped into the cellblock, where beyond it was a large, circular door with a the Eight-Pointed Star emblazed on it. The Marines continued walking, past each cell that contained a half-ape/daemon hybrid, each of various twisted, painful, convoluted forms.

In all there were five wide cells, two on the left side and three on the right side of the hallway. And each one of those cells contained a Venomian/daemon hybrid mutant.

"What in name of the Emperor IS this heresy?" one of the Terminator's demanded. "Has Venom gone mad?"

Jacques growled, "It would appear that Andrew Oikonny was not the first to experiment with the Ruinous Powers."

He turned to the Chaplain.

"We must free these apes from their torment."

"Torment?" Cassius questioned gruffly. "I call this _heresy_!"

The lights in the hall then suddenly dimmed…

----------

The 1st Kronus and Cornerian riot police had managed to disperse the refugees gathered around the Eight-Pointed Star. Slippy and Amanda were also walking away, the green frog appearing dejected. Suddenly power was cut off the entire cavern was plunged into darkness, causing people to start crying out in confusion.

"Shit, power failure," one of the Cornerian riot squad cried. "Fourth damn time this week."

"Can't you frakking aliens solve that problem?" one of the 1st Kronus demanded.

_What the hell? Unauthorised doors are opening! _Venom communication lines were panicked. _Locks disengaging…something's friggin' overriding them!_

The lights switched on, allowing the people in the cavern to see that the Eight-Pointed Star door was open. And allowed Amanda to notice that Slippy wasn't there with her.

"Wha…wha…?" she was speechless as she looked around frantically. "Slippy! SLIPPY!"

----------

"BY THE EMPEROR!"

The cell doors suddenly opened and out came the mutants, their various twisted clawed appendages stretched forward they surrounded the Ultramarines and leapt at them. Nemesis and staff already drawn, Jacques swung the blade in a upward motion with one hand and vertically bisected the first one, then brought the sword down and slicing it's head diagonally, rendering it into four pieces as it fell to the ground.

Bellowing a war cry, Cassius swung his Crozius and sent another mutant into the wall between two cells, then swinging the mace again and driving it into the torso of the mutant, spraying blood out of it's mouth. He grimaced momentarily when another hybrid sliced into his side, before a Terminator blasted it point blank in the head, tearing it's skull in half.

Jacques sliced down another mutant before another one rammed into him from behind, knocking him forward on his stomach, causing him to drop his sword. Gripping the staff with both hands he tried rolling over but the bulkiness of his armour and the power pack he wore on his back made this impossible. The mutant grabbed him by the foot and with unnatural strength lifted him up and swung him against the other packed in Marines, knocking them all down.

"DAMN!" Jacques grunted.

The two remaining mutants each smiled devilishly and charged, but their heads jerked upward away from the lying, sitting Marines as if noticing something standing in the hallway outside the cell block. That was proven when a las-blast sailed over the heads of the Marines and struck one of the mutants in the head, causing it to grunt in pain.

Jacques got up and furiously charged the mutants, stretching both arms to his side as he delivered (what any humorous person would call) a holy double clothesline, knocking them both down onto their backs. He then spun around, put his foot down on the elongated neck of one of them and fired his storm bolter into it's face, blasting it apart.

With a cry of might Cassius raised his power mace and brought it down on the last remaining hybrid, splattering blood all over. Jacques looked up at the doorway and saw Slippy standing there, holding a laspistol with both hands, aiming it his way at where one of the mutants previously stood.

"Slippy?"

Slippy lowered his las-weapon before producing a nervous grin that threatened to split his face apart.

"Hi."

He was still smiling when Jacques towered above him; a frown upon his bloodstained, worn face.

"Do I dare ask as to why you are here?" Jacques questioned, eyes darting downward to see that the soles of Slippy's feet was covered in crusted, dried blood. "In this miserable place."

Slippy's smile faded, "I…er…wanted to go where the action was."

"What?" Cassius bellowed, angry at the frog's apparent stupidity. "You risk your untrained, undisciplined mind to daemonic possession by following us in here? Does your stupidity know no boundaries, frog-xeno?!"

Receiving that ear full from the Chaplain was enough to nearly knock Slippy down on his butt, but he kept his composure and stated, "I didn't want to miss seeing Chaos up close and not feel scared for once."

He then looked determined.

"Everyone always thinks that I'm the coward, the guy that always screw ups, that I'll turn tail when one of those daemon things pops up in front of us…

"And you want to prove that you are not, as you say, a coward?" Jacques asked, then smirked. "You seriously should not take what Falco says to heart."

Slippy's eyes widened, 'He heard all that?'

"I do not think that you are a coward, especially before Chaos," Jacques explained. "For you it took courage just to follow us in here and fire a weapon at…"

He indicated the dead mutants strewn about on the floor.

"…the abomination."

Slippy nodded, then lamented. "But I still get scared…"

"ENOUGH!"

Cassius drew both their attention, sounding impatient.

"Come with us if you feel you must hold on to some shred of honour!" Cassius exclaimed. "I suggest you stay behind Mortensen. It would be a shame if Chaos claimed you and whatever skills you possess."

Slippy smiled again, "Alright."

He then looked nervous as he pointed at the circular door at the other end of the cellblock.

"Wonder what's beyond that door?"

Cassius gripped his Crozius Arcanum. "We shall find out."

The Marines with the frog in tow stepped over the hybrid corpses towards the door; Slippy breathed deeply, in and out, nervously. Jacques looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

"Courage, Slippy," the Grey Knight said.

Slippy nodded again. Yeah."

Jacques looked up ahead and frowned.

'This place has a familiar feeing to me,' he thought bitterly. 'People besides Venomians died here. Needlessly.'

----------

It was pitch black within the chamber beyond the door. No light, artificial or otherwise, was present; just darkness. That changed when the door clicked, buzzed and slowly opened. Light slowly shone as the door pulled itself out of place before rolling out of the doorway to the side, allowing light to shine a pathway across the chamber towards a eight-pointed star stone altar. Another rotting corpse laid on it, eliciting an angry grimace from Jacques as he stepped in the room, Slippy right behind him.

The frog looked around cautiously, eyes darting left and right.

"Heh…never seen…darkness like this before," Slippy tried to alleviate his own fear. "Have you, Jacques?"

"Slippy."

"Yes, yeah…focus. Courage. Courage, feeling that right now…"

Slippy breathed in and out, laspistol still in hand. Jacques looked around determinedly, his mind processing away…

'Now this is familiar to me.'

Cassius stepped into the chamber after them, followed by the Terminators. Cassius stepped up to observe the altar and the remains of the poor soul sacrificed on it.

"I deduce, Brothers, that a xeno was sacrificed on this very altar in order to create the mutants we just vanquished," Cassius explained. "I have seen this before. The sacrificed was made to satiate the Dark Gods' appetites, and in exchange daemons were summoned here and the Venomians did what they pleased with them…"

He paused when he took another stop forward, his boot book stepping on something and cracking it apart. He glimpsed down at his first, surprised at what he had just stepped on.

Jacques narrowed his eyes tiredly. "I suppose trying to clone me was not the first time they attempted to replicate the Astartes. They refer to us as the super soldier…"

Cassius gritted his teeth angrily when he recognised the corpse on the altar when he got close enough.

"…that we are invincible on the battlefield. That we turn the tide of war wherever we go." Jacques continued to ruminate as he walked up to the altar and towards Cassius.

The Chaplain spun around to face Jacques, eyes narrowed as he stepped towards him as if to stop him from coming any closer.

Jacques looked at him questioningly, "Brother-Chaplain?"

"Are you sure this place is familiar to you?" Cassius sounded sceptical.

Jacques nodded. "The vision that me, Fox, Krystal and Tigerius had back on MacBeth. This is the chamber that James McCloud was…"

He suddenly became silent when he realised what he was saying.

"…_sacrificed_...?"

Fate decided to strike another blow on the Only Good Human, for the down lights situated on the roof turned on when one of the Terminators stepped towards the Grey Knight and the Chaplain. The entire was now illuminated, revealing dozens of ape and lizards skeletons strewn about the alter; one of the skulls of the apes Cassius had stepped on. They Marines were shocked to see that the altar was before a ringed Chaos gate – decorated with many sacrilegious icons and answering the question on how daemons came to be on Venom.

Cassius gritted his teeth and narrowed his visible eye when he stepped back from the altar, to behold the even more heretical sight before him.

'This cannot be…' one of the Terminators thought. 'This planet, this world…is one of the worlds Cerinia warned us about.'

Jacques and Slippy, however, paid no mind to the Chaos gate. Instead they was more engrossed on the still decaying corpse on the altar, now being able to be seen more clearly. The stink of the corpse was enough to turn Slippy's stomach, causing him to turn away and fall to the ground with his hands over his mouth. Realising he was he kneeling next to a lizard skeleton he begun to throw up.

"Oh God, oh…oh God…! T…tell me that's not…" Slippy felt tears sting his eyes as he cried out in denial. "…That's not Fox's dad, right? Oh God…"

Jacques mouth was open with shock when he recognised the same, yet faded with age, flight uniform Fox wore on the sacrificial victim – a male orange vulpine in his mid forties with his chest sliced open. Jacques knelt on one knee, closed his mouth and looked sadly upon the altar, moving his left hand to cover his face and shield his eyes from the defiled physical shell of…

"James McCloud," Jacques greeted the corpse quietly. "I am honoured to meet you, my friend Fox's father."

Cassius growled said, almost daringly. "You show respect to a defiled corpse?"

Jacques looked up at him and replied nonchalantly, "He deserves that much."

Slippy wiped his mouth and coughed a couple of times. He stood up, his legs shaking, and turned around to face the altar. Tears still ran down his eyes as he forced himself to look at James's body. The eyes had long already rotted away and half of the elder fox's skull was exposed as much of skin on the head had rotted away.

He wiped his face, trying to compose himself and restore a mere semblance of dignity. "They sacrificed him…didn't they?"

Jacques nodded. "In his exchange for his soul they opened the gate, and were permitted to become the playthings for the daemons"

Cassius shook his head and leered over at the Terminators, visibly disgusted by Jacques and Slippy's sympathy for the defiled vulpine's remains.

"The body will be burned, along with this whole shrine," Cassius announced. "Any objections, Mortensen?"

Jacques frowned, which Slippy only saw and cringed.

"I have none, Chaplain….AH…!"

Cassius spun around upon hearing Jacques' pained exclamation, immediately startled to see the body turn on it's side with it's left hand around the Grey Knights throat, in a weak attempt to throttle him. Slippy was shocked silent at the sight, mouth wide open in shock. Jacques gritted his teeth as the corpse's sharp fingernails dug into his neck, right hand shooting forward to grasp the hands.

The corpse suddenly gave a terrible, vicious animalistic scream as the wards in his Aegis gauntlets burnt (seared more like) into the mostly skeletal arm and it let go, flopping onto it's back and screaming upward at the ceiling…

----------

"ARGHHHH!" Tigerius gripped both sides of his head as he suddenly tore off his psychic hood as the massive amount of warp feedback caused his eyes to bleed.

One of the nearby acolytes panicked upon seeing the Chief Librarian toppled forward onto the ground.

"BROTHER LIBRARIAN!" the acolyte cried as he ran to his aid. He turned to the other present acolytes. "CALL THE APOTHECARY, NOW!!!"

----------

Slippy didn't see it coming. Not James McCloud's corpse strangling Jacques, that had already taken him off guard. He didn't see Jacques grabbing Slippy by the scruff of the back of his bodysuit and tossing him back towards the entrance and away from the altar, in order to spare him whatever horror is bound to be tossed their way.

"Jacques!" Slippy exclaimed, trying to reach for his laspistol but fumbling and it fell to the floor.

Jacques and Cassius stepped back from the altar, weapons in hand. While the Chaplain looked ready to obliterate the undead vulpine in one fell swoop, the Grey Knight instead looked uneasy and hesitant, evident by the point of Nemesis aiming downward for the altar instead for the corpse.

"J…James McCloud?" Jacques felt his eyes waver when he forced himself to continue staring at the reanimated corpse of Fox's father.

The corpse smiled and revealed yellow/black rotten teeth. "No…McCloud is dead. It is just _us_ now."

It then snarled in many voices, the echo further unsettling Jacques…

"_**We are many. We serve the pantheon. Chaos is eternal!"**_

Jacques, Cassius and the Terminators stepped back away from the altar and James' risen corpse, Slippy however was frozen stiff in the doorway, frightened. The shambling, rotting cadaver hopped off the altar, teeth bared sharp and eyes glowing red; signalling that the one to one-thousand daemons inhabiting Fox's father's corpse were angry at seeing the Imperial insignia's and motives on their armour and robe. Even with their fearlessness and zealotry, the sight of the undead unnerved the Marines.

"SACRILEGE!" Cassius wailed. "Chaos has tainted this world!"

"Hold your tongue, Chaplain!" Jacques exclaimed. "Abomination…"

He angrily referred to the body of James, which was slowly mutating before their eyes into something worse. He gripped Nemesis' hilt and fed it his psychic energy, preparing to destroy the corpse and the evil that has taken it over.

"…you dare defile the body of the late James McCloud?" Jacques brought Nemesis back, ready to swing and destroy his enemy with one blow. "Go back to your Hell!"

The corpse roared, **"You will have to destroy this rotting shell to send us back! And not without a FIGHT!"**

It lunged at Jacques, sickeningly extending it's claws as it attacked. The Grey Knight closed his eyes….

'Forgive me, Fox.'

…and brought Nemesis slicing the possessed corpse in half.

"Oh God!" Slippy exclaimed, hands over his mouth as he tried to keep himself from throwing up again.

Crimson light shone out from both sides of the corpse, which illuminated the room.

"_**We are many. We serve the pantheon. Chaos is eternal!"**_

The crimson hellish light dissipated them and above them thirteen daemonic Chaos spirits, spiralling about madly all over the ceiling. Jacques eyes widened when they begun inching towards the daemon gate and panicked, knowing that if taint touched the inactive portal then hell will finally come down upon the last safe bastion for the populace of Lylat.

Gritting his teeth Jacques gripped his head with both hands, dropping Nemesis and the staff onto the floor, and unleashed a mind-numbing psychic wave which obliterated the spirits, shredding them in half and sending them back to the Warp. The sheer force of the attack was enough to topple the gate and it fell over backwards, shattering into numerous pieces on the stone ground and raising dust.

The 7 shaped scar on his forehead bled, the blood running into his eyes. He closed his eyelids as he wiped the blood away, turning towards the entrance into the chamber. Opening his eyes he looked to see Slippy standing there, eyes widened and shaking in terror.

Jacques frowned.

"Slippy."

The frog stared at the bisected rotting corpse of James. "Was…that…really?"

"Yes."

He had seen those spirits floating around in the chamber. "Were those...?"

"Yes."

He recognised the disc-shaped daemon gate laying in pieces behind Jacques. Is that…?"

"Yes."

Getting back to the corpse of James McCloud the frog thought of his oldest friend. "Does Fox…?"

"Not yet."

"Should we tell him?" Slippy queried, Jacques allowing him to finish his question.

His earpiece vox buzzed and he tapped it.

Mortensen! Calgar called out over the com. Chaos fleet approaching Venomian Air Defence Zone. Star Fox is being deployed into action. Prepare yourself should Chaos land on the surface.

Fearful, Slippy lower jaw shook and his eyes quivered. Jacques moved his eyes towards Slippy and he immediately put on a straight face, feigning bravery.

The Grey Knight shook his head and answered Slippy's last question. "Not yet. Emperor forbid."

* * *

FYI - The beginning author's notes were inspired by the cover of the third issue of the ultraviolent comic 'Hard Boiled.' Oh, and I've been reading a lot of Naruto fan fics…Heh heh…


	5. Chapter 4: Entrapment

**Disclaimer: See the Prologue**

* * *

Chapter 4 – Entrapment

* * *

_The Daemon has many forms. You must know them all. You must tell the Daemon from his disguise and root him out from the hidden places. Trust no-one. Trust not even yourself. It is better to die in vain than to live in abomination. The zealous martyr is praised for his valor; the craven and the unready are justly abhorred.  
_**- The First Book of Indoctrinations**

The young man of a brown furred, white-fringed monkey grimaced as he stood in the centre of the stone temple and before the massive eight-pointed star of Chaos, which was hanging by chains from the roof. Each of the stars point had the skeleton of an ape impaled on it, the monkey immediately deduced was the result of a Chaotic ritual.

"Praetor Bowman," a Venomian soldier called out from the entrance into the temple. "Is everything alright, sir?"

Praetor Dash Bowman narrowed his eyes, replying back cryptically. "This is where it all begun."

"Sir?"

"My uncle summoned those monsters to this planet, ripped a hole in reality itself and they poured through, you know," Dash explained sadly, speaking his thoughts out loud. "They told him…they told him to destroy Cerinia. They told him to invade Corneria. They…they were behind his every move."

He looked over his shoulder towards the soldier.

"And now they're coming back, right?"

The soldier nodded, "Yes sir. General Hare is asking for you back at command."

Dash nodded, "Right. Has the demolition team arrived?"

"Standing by outside, sir."

Dash frowned as he walked towards the entryway. He ordered, "Destroy this place. Bury it, leave no trace of Andross' sucking up to the daemons."

Dash stepped out into the sunlight of Venom where a shuttle and two squads of Venomian troops waited outside, one of them armed with demolition charges. The temple had being built into the side of a canyon a mile away from Central Command, it's entry at the top past a small carved staircase. As soon as Dash begun walking down the stairs towards his ships the demo team ran up the stairs and into the temple, charges already armed.

As the praetor of Venom fastened his safety buckles inside the shuttle he glanced out the window to see the demo squad run out and reach the bottom of the staircase. The engineer in charge put his thumb down on the detonator and the flames jettisoned out of the entryway, before it caved in and burying the temple beneath the canyon rock.

The shuttle took off and flew back to command, Dash sitting back into his chair and smiling; a great sense of accomplishment floating above his person.

----------

INCOMING CHAOS ATTACK! ALL PERSONNEL TO THEIR STATIONS IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

The pink/white-furred feline of 25 years sighed in annoyance as she zipped up her flight suit, the loud klaxons sounded off all across the base, including her quarters. Quickly picking up her Cornerian-issued flight helmet she held her underneath her right arm and exited her quarters out onto the main hallway. She was immediately joined by dozens of other Lylatian pilots of varying races.

"What's going on?" Katt asked out loud.

"The cultist freaks are on their way!" a Venomian monkey replied hurriedly. "We're the fresh meat that's going up front!"

"Zip the hell up, Connell!" a lime-green lizard with the nametag Dorland replied. "We got the Cornerian and the human fleets at our backs!"

Katt smirked, "Too right."

Dorland shook his head, grabbed Katt by the right arm and pulled her to him.

"Didn't say that because I was optimistic," the lizard Dorland whispered to her, sounding cautious. "Just in case those skinny freaks can hear us. They have eerily powers!"

Still smirking, Katt pulled her arm away and reiterated, "Too right!"

Katt had been with the Venomian orbital defence brigade for a week and still the anti-human sentiment hadn't gotten to her. She had heard the usual assortment of misinformation regarding the lengths and depths of humanity's powers and their attitude/behaviour that it was all past news to her. And she knew enough of a couple of humans to know that whatever that could be said of them could be immediately regarded as tosh.

It had also been a couple of days since she and her boyfriend/lover Falco Lombardi had spoken a word to each other. Just one comment about his fondness for morphine from her and he nearly blew a gasket. That, and how she declared she was joining the orbital defence force and 'being beneath Venom's greasy, hairy thumb'; Falco's own choice of words.

'They got my Falco addicted to those chems on purpose,' Katt thought angrily. 'Motherfuckers.'

She was lost in her thoughts that she walked right into a poodle wearing a red ribbon and identical purple flight suit while she was making the straps on flights boot tighter and bowled her over. Katt gasped…

"Aw, jeez…I'm sorry."

The poodle rubbed her forehead and chuckled, "No worries. I shouldn't have been sitting there anyway."

Katt extended her hand and helped the poodle up onto her feet. She didn't recognise her.

"I haven't see you around here on the station, darlin'," Katt queried as they walked together down toward the main fighter bay of the extensive hangar system outlining the orbital station above Venom. "You just transferred."

The poodle rubbed the back of her head, still smiling, "Yeah, I'm from the garrison from MacBeth. Just arrived yesterday."

"Girl, that's some great timing."

The poodle's smile faded, "I know."

It was Katt's turn to smile, "Name's Katt Monroe."

The poodle smile suddenly returned, "Fay Robins, 3rd Fleet Fighter Corps Division."

"Alright princess, how's this?" Katt grabbed her left hand and squeezed gently. "I watch your back, you watch mine. And afterwards I'll buy you a drink. Deal?"

Fay looked at her confusingly, before she nodded and smiled. "Deal."

----------

Falco shivered violently as he prepped his Arwing for taking, which drew the attention of Fox as he refuelled his Arwing. Though the vulpine had to strain his eyes slightly to see the avian past his cigarette smoke, the one in his mouth and the remainder of his previous one in a nearby ashtray, he knew something was bothering him. Falco coughed slightly and put out his cancer stick as he noticed Fox staring at him

He jokingly chided, "Yeah I smoke, Fox. This is my seventh today…."

"I'm not worried about that," Fox replied. He then thought bitterly, 'I'm more worried about those pain killers you suck down like skittles.'

"Then what are…?"

"You just jittered violently, Falco," Fox removed the fuel tube from his Arwing.

"Yeah," Falco said. "Have no idea why that happened?"

Fox smirked, "Feeling nervous?"

"About going up against someone the skinnies fail to kill _thirteen_ times?" Falco asked. A brief pause followed before he answered, "Yeah I guess I am nervous."

"We just gotta keep him from landing on the planet," Fox said as he stored the fuel pipe away into a compartment built below his Arwing in the hanger floor. "He's useless if he and his troops are stuck in space."

_Unless his fleet positions themselves in orbit above the planet past the defence zone, then he'll be able to bombard us from space_, Krystal said over the communicator. She continued, sullen, _I hate that things may be up to us once again._

Fox shook his head and said, "Good thing this time we've got the entire Cornerian and Venomian Fighter Corps at our backs then."

"And Katt's among those poor bastards," Falco muttered quietly.

Fox cracked his knuckles and called out, "ROB? Status!"

Venomian long-range sensors detecting several large targets just outside the killzone, ROB reported.

"How long until they are in range of Venom's guns?"

At current speed, estimated time to contact: Ten minutes.

Falco smirked and banged on the side of his Arwing with flat left palm, "Think those flyboys can get prepped in that amount of time?"

"Knowing Peppy he would have kept them all on stand by for the past week," Fox said. "Good thing too, since those freaks are deciding to move in now."

"Yeah, why's it only now that Mr. Topknot's decided to personally try and tear us apart? He had all week while we were busy with our heads up our assholes," Falco bluntly questioned.

Fox scratched his head, "That's…for smarter men than us to figure out."

_No doubt, _Krystal said. _I'm coming down there. We're doing this together._

Fox nodded, "Alright. I gave up trying to convince you otherwise days ago."

I'm glad. You have no idea how about that make's me feel.

----------

"Slippy?"

"Ah…yeah?"

"There is nothing to be fearful about."

Jacques noticed the way Slippy was nervously rubbing his hands as they stood there in the temple. The same temple which housed the broken pieces of Venom's Chaos Gate and the sacrificial alter which had the rotting body of James McCloud on it, which now laid on the ground in two pieces, having being cut finely down the middle.

After having disposed of the daemonic spirits in the room which had inhabited James' corpse for decades, he had then proceeded to destroy the alter, with his synthetic gauntlet nonetheless and shattering it. Now Cassius and the Terminators were quietly going through the chamber, the Chaplain picking up one of the pieces of the Chaos and observing it.

Slippy noticed him, "You sure that's safe?"

"Mortensen made sure of it," Cassius replied, before nonchalantly tossing the broken piece over his shoulder. "Let us leave this damned chamber and seal it off behind us."

Jacques nodded, "Yes."

"Works for me," Slippy commented. "I think I'm feeling brave now."

He then smiled.

"Seeing those daemons up close and how you got rid of them, I don't think I'll be scared of them for a very long tim…WAAAAAGH!"

All the Marines looked Slippy's way to find that one of the Venomian corpses standing behind Slippy, reaching out ready to grasp the frog by the neck. Quickly taking the initiative and taking advantage of his tendency to act before thinking Jacques fired his storm bolter, his targeter making sure it hit the corpse in the head and exploding it. The rest of the body then slumped forward, Slippy diving out of the way as it hit the ground.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Slippy blurted out. He then looked down the stockade hallway. "OH GOD!"

The Venomian 'corpses' were shuffling towards the temple entrance like simian undead.

Frustrated and gritting his teeth, Jacques demanded out loud, "Is every rotting shell down here possessed?"

To prove his point a daemonic spirit seeped out of the exposed neck of the downed zombie and immediately went for Jacques, it's face and torso the form of a malicious looking monkey with it's arms reaching forward and eyes enraged and glowing red. Jacques grabbed the spirit by the neck, the wards in his gauntlets allowing him to grasp the immaterial. With a sneer he then crushed the spirit's 'throat' and it dissipated.

"TO BATTLE ONCE AGAIN, BROTHERS!" Cassius bellowed as he charged at the simian 'undead.'

Nemesis in hand, Jacques joined Cassius in charging the living, daemon-possessed corpses. Swinging his large sword he severed another zombie in half, sending the torso flying and the possessor-daemon flying out and back towards the front entrance leading into the cursed place.

Knowing that it would attempt to leave the temple and into the cavern-system, Jacques quickly unleashed a mind blast at the daemon and vanquished it, before barging through the zombie. He knocked them all down and positioned himself in front of the exit.

"You are not leaving this damned place!" Jacques exclaimed, Cassius and the Terminators closing on the zombies from the other side. "Once you are released from your rotten shackles I will send you back to your masters!"

The zombies all growled and declared. "**OUR MASTERS WILL CONSUME YOUR SOULS!"**

Bellowing out loud, Jacques charged and swung his massive sword with one hand, slicing another zombie in half horizontally. He then lunged at another zombie, slicing down vertically and splitting the corpse in half down the middle. All the while splattering black-coloured blood and pieces of corpse all over the place, turning Slippy's stomach once again.

Unable to take the carnage any more Slippy closed his eyes and covered his ears, whimpering.

'I'm not like anyone else. Anyone that _counts_ anyway,' he thought bitterly. 'I thought I was being brave coming here…'

He then sighed.

'I'm a coward.'

"SLIPPY!"

The frog opened his eyes to see a legless zombie crawling towards him hurriedly. Shrieking, Slippy grabbed his blaster and fired repeatedly into it's head as it tried to reach for him. Nemesis then came down from above, separating the head from the rest of it's rotting neck.

Slippy jumped back onto his feet quickly enough, seeing Jacques standing before him, his sword slung over his shoulder and Krystal's staff in his right hand. He was splattered in blood and looked quite disturbed and angry. The frog looked up at his eyes, and could see that he wasn't looking back at him, instead looking over at him and something that only he could see.

Jacques then bellowed, spun around and jumped back into the fray…

----------

Tigerius grunted as he got back on his feet with help from the Apothecary. For the first time in so many years he felt pain…pain in the form of a headache. The moment that he sensed that eldritch burst it brought him to his knees, and he recognised what came next following Chaotic energy that powerful. And that made him fearful.

"Brother-Librarian!" the Apothecary exclaimed. "Can you stand?"

"Yes."

"What did you sense?"

"Much trouble," Tigerius replied. "I must get down to the caverns immediately."

"Why?"

"A tear is opened below us," the Librarian explained. "I must seal it before the Immaterium comes through and consumes this planet…."

He paused as the Apothecary let go of him and handed him his force staff.

"It will be Cerinia and it's Daemon Gate once again.

----------

The entire underground system of Venom was in panic, and the Tau sector situated near Coalition High Command was no different. Fire Warriors prepped for battle and begun making their way towards the surface through the tunnels, followed by battlesuits and Hammerhead Hovertanks. The Kronus 1st quickly joined them as they prepared themselves for surface assault.

"Shas'ui!"

The Pathfinders stood to attention as La'Tash and Ui'Jakob entered the Tau barracks located in Sector 2-B. The human was surprised to see that his team was waiting for him, dressed in armour and armed with their plasma carbines.

"La'Hyuk!" Jakob exclaimed. "What is going on?"

"The Ethereal has commanded all forces to the surface in case the mont'au landed on the surface of Venom," the Pathfinder answered. "We received our orders just before you returned."

Not wasting time, Jakob and Tash stripped themselves of their trenchcoats and dressed into their uniforms and armour.

"What _are_ the orders?" Jakob answered as two of his fellow Pathfinders helped him to dress quickly.

"Provide reconnainse on the surface."

"What about the caverns near the Chaos temple?" Jakob said. "Did he mention the caverns?"

"Only that the home guard will be able to handle whatever should step outside that accursed sector," La'Hyuk replied, grimly as he handle Jakob his white-coloured Shas'ui helmet. "Our orders stand."

"And willed be followed," Ui'Jakob replied as he put his helmet. "Move out."

----------

Slowly lumbering across the void of space were the dozen Chaos warships approaching the edges of Venomian space. Various ancient hulks of twisted archaic design, they were aware of many hundred guns waiting to fire upon them from the defence stations orbiting the planet. Leading the assault was the largest ship, the infamous Despoiler-call battleship known as the Merciless Death.

This class of ship was fitting, as the one leading the fleet from it's bridge was Abaddon the Despoiler himself, who watched grimly from the bridge as a fraction of his war fleet approached Venom, the partially unstable world slowly becoming larger as they approached it.

_Lord Abaddon, _the vox coming from a servitor hanging by a chain above the bridge said with unholy echo. _Your champions have prepared themselves to strike, to bring the Cerinian before the Imperator when the time comes._

"Yes, Zeraphiston," Abaddon said. "Tell them they must bring _her_ to me, then we will depart this miserable patch of space."

Yes, master, the Sorcerer replied. The princess shall be ours by the end of this hour.

The Chosen Champions of Abaddon all knelt in a circle around the Sorcerer Zeraphiston as he gripped his staff tightly, crimson power flowing out of it and lighting up the dark, daemon-infested hellishly decorated room. The Champion of Khorne, the Champion of Nurgle and the Champion of Slaanesh (bearing the name Devram Korda – the Tyrant of Sarora).

Devram licked his lips as he bowed his head as he prepared to be transported through the hull of the ship, through space, and unto the surface of Venom.

"The last of the Cerinian stock," he licked his lips as he spoke aloud. "Slaanesh's servants would have kept her to themselves if they had overcome the loyalist scum on MacBeth, denying me something I deserver after waging war for ten-thousand years."

The wolf-masked Khornate champion growled, "You are a monstrosity, Korda! You are your perverted ilk lust after damned furs."

He then inquired, gripping his glaive tightly.

"Just what makes a beast-xeno's physical form attractive to you?"

Devram smirked, "You would not understand, Champion of the Blood God. You never seek the beauty and the sensual out of living…only their blood."

The Nurgle Champion hissed, "Your conversation bores me."

Zeraphiston tapped the bottom of his staff on the ground.

"Allow me to rid you of your boredom, kinsmen," Zeraphiston smirked behind his helm. "We will capture the Cerinian, and will slay the Man with Vulpine Eyes right before her."

The Khornate Champion laughed, "Now that is what I would like to hear, Sorcerer! FOR KHORNE!"

"GRANDFATHER NURGLE!"

"PRINCE SLAANESH!"

"Tzeentch."

They were then engulfed in a crimson flash as Zeraphiston transported them out of the chamber.

----------

"Ugh!" Krystal closed her eyes and rubbed the left side of her head as she felt another migraine assault her, this time between the eyes.

She was already suffering headaches on account of the Chaos fleet arriving out of the warp near Sargasso, but with sensing another sudden burst of warp energy she now had a full blown migraine. She didn't want to take painkillers because of their dulling effects on her mental abilities and so chose to suffer. Besides, she didn't want to end up like Falco.

That is…addicted to painkillers. The rumors had to be true, judging from Falco's more laid back attitude these days. These horrible, unbearable days…that somehow Falco was still able to joke about.

She shook her head, 'I can't think like that.'

Krystal stepped into the hangar bay. Fox and Falco's Arwings were prepped and were ready for their respective pilots. And surprisingly, so was Slippy's.

Fox watched her intently as she walked towards the unmanned Lylatian fighter. As she was about to climb up and into the cockpit she turned to Fox, seeing him look at her sadly.

"I can't talk you out of coming with us, can I?" Fox asked.

The vixen downcast her eyes in thought. She then looked at him and frowned.

"No."

She then got into the cockpit and closed the canopy, her flight console activating just as Fox and Falco strapped themselves into their Arwings.

"Alright guys, prep for immediate engagement," Fox ordered as he flipped a few switches. "Rob, open hangar doors."

Affirmative.

Minutes later the trio found themselves flying through the back, immediately find themselves amongst a thousand Cornerian, Venomian and Imperial fighter craft, followed close behind by dozens of Lylatian capital ships. Fox looked out of his canopy in awe, not remembering a time when he was alongside so many fighters of many kinds during his career as a mercenary.

"Whoa…" he uttered, and not helping but smile.

This is pretty cool, eh?

"Katt?"

The hell are you doing here? Falco recognized the voice quicker than Fox, but had been slower to respond.

Watching your ass, beaky, Katt replied. Me plus one-thousand!

Damn straight!

Yeah!

Fox was quick to switch his com off before the cockpit was filled with the bellows of a thousand fighter pilots, the Cornerians no doubt happy to be flying alongside Team Star Fox. He switched it back on when his console flashed red, indicating incoming message from an important source. The vulpine smiled when he heard a familiar voice.

This is Praetor Bowman to all standing Venomian perimeter defense forces. You have your orders and I don't like giving speeches so I'll keep this short: The dark side of humanity is coming for us. You're not going to let them land on this rock, are you?

NO, SIR!

Fox cringed when hundreds of Venomian voices sounded off over the com.

Dash sounded sly when he continued, You do plan on wiping out every last one of those cultic bastards, right?

YES SIR!

Fox smirked, 'Pretty blunt, but effective! No wonder Venom was relentless during the Lylat Wars.'

Don't le me stop you then! GO GET EM'!

Loud cheers rang out over the communication/vox lines, Fox noticing a few Venomian pilots in their fighters pumping their fists in their cockpits.

Suddenly Fox's flight computer started beeping.

"Shit!" Fox exclaimed. "INCOMING!"

From beyond the Venomian defense zone fast-moving long-range torpedoes hurtled towards the fighter wings, the resulting explosions destroying ten of the fighters before their flight commanders had the chance to order their respective wings to scatter. Fox gripped his reins control tightly as he elevated his Arwing to avoid an incoming warhead. The force of the explosion was enough to send him hurtling forward, almost tilting his Arwing so that he was upside down.

Luckily he aligned his Arwing correctly just in time for Falco to shout into the com.

Are those pricks launching their missiles from…shit, a whole click away.

They are not missiles, Lombardi. They are torpedoes! Calgar exclaimed. They are bombarding us from outside the zone, and are planning to clear a path straight to the planet's surface.

Falco grunted in annoyance as he listened to Calgar speak.

"Thanks!" Falco referred to the Lord Macragge's exposition. "How about we have the big ships up in front for this one, eh?"

The Children of Eden fleet, consisting of one Mars-Class Battleship, two Avenger-Class Cruisers and three Firestorm Escort Cruisers, accelerated forward ahead of the fighter wings, shields engaged and absorbing the Chaos torpedo fire. The Cornerian and Venomian fleet quickly joined them and they manoeuvred themselves defensively.

All wings form up behind the cruisers.

Stabilise forward shields.

Star Fox, Dash referred to them over the com. You're at the helm of Venom's defenses. Any suggestions?

Fox grimaced as he once again felt burdened with being given last-minute leadership.

"We attack!" Fox exclaimed, then begun to draw upon his tactical know-how. "Keep the starships up at front. Fighter wings will break from cover and engage once the enemy fleet is in range of their cannons."

Acknowledged, Dash said. All ships, move forward. Human and Cornerian fleets, await orders!

Already have them! We're moving forward!"

FOR THE EMPEROR!

The Imperial manufactured starships launched their own long-range torpedoes as they moved forward, the Lylatian starships scattered all around them and begun firing into the black. The fighters kept close and behind the starships, making sure to dodge the Chaos torpedoes, which still hurtled towards them.

Soon enough…

"HEY, WATCH IT ROOKIE!"

A Cornerian fighter almost collided with Falco's Arwing as it dodged an Arwing. Falco checked his flight computer to see a female poodle with a red-ribbon tied around her hair look at him apologetically.

Sorry, sir!

Falco snorted, "Eye forward, rookie! Don't bunch up!"

Fay nodded and switched off the com.

Krystal felt her headaches flare up as they drew closer to the Chaos fleet. She closed her eyes and silently prayed…

"Cerinia help me," she whispered pleadingly to herself. "Give me strength."

The twisted, nightmarish, archaic battleships of the Chaos warfleet were soon in range just as they left the Venomian defense zone. The dozen Chaos ships opened up with their lascannons, missile batteries and lances. Immediately one Venomian missile cruiser was sliced in half and it exploded.

BREAK! BREAK!

The fighter wings all broke defense and went for the enemy warfleet. Some of the Venomians expended their missile payloads at the nearest Chaos starrship, and as they got closer to fire their plasma cannons they were cut down by Chaos Claw fighter squadrons.

"Here they come!" Krystal exclaimed. "Fox, Falco, Katt…"

We've got each other's back, Fox said. Let's do this.

Once again they engaged in visceral dogfighting in space. The familiar, exciting feelings of adrenaline pumping through the veins of these pilots furthered their resolve to destroy as much of the enemy as possible, making sure that their years of experience in the cockpit would keep them all alive. Throughout the 2nd Star Fox team's history had never fought against such daemonic, twisted spacecraft. Their cultic pilots no doubt having centuries of experience, each downing hundreds if not thousands of targets.

Fox dodged a red lascannon blast from an oncoming Claw before firing his plasma cannon, blowing it in half and forcing him to pull up to avoid the debris. Two more Claws engaged him from behind and performed a loop, but the Claws quickly performed simultaneous U-turns, getting back on Fox's tail once his Arwing straigthend.

He grunted as he was lurched forward in the cockpit from lascannon blasts to his rear, "Should've known they'd pick up on our maneuvers sooner or later."

Heh, cultic bastards are learning! Falco explained. Still can get shot down though.

"Too right, Falco," Fox cried as he threw his Arwing left and right to lose the tails. "Little help here!"

On my way!

The two Claws were blasted to scrap once Falco moved in to assist Fox.

Damn, I'm good, Falco chided.

Fox shook his head, annoyed at Falco's attitude.

"Yeah? I'm better," he muttered to himself.

----------

Without bothering to clean the filth and viscera off Nemesis, Jacques sheathed it on his back. With Krystal's s staff, however, he wiped some of the gunk off it's gemstone with his cloak and continued wiping it until he could see his reflection in it. He then looked down at the various former undead that laid at his and his fellow Marines' feet, sliced, chopped, behead and otherwise.

"Err...guys?" Slippy caught Jacques attention as he carefully stepped over the corpses. "Can we open the door and leave now?"

Jacques and Cassius eyed one another cautiously…

"Guys…OOOFFF…!"

Slippy was pushed aside as Jacques rushed down the corridor, past the cellblock and back into the chamber. He angrily gnashed his teeth when he saw the pieces of the Daemon gate float above the ground and slowly begin to reassemble themselves, creating sparks of crimson as the warp flooded itself into the room through an unseen tear in the fabric of reality.

Unseen to everyone present but Jacques, who saw a crimson ribbon holding the pieces together, slowing reforming them until a crimson flash blasted through the chamber and down the hall, temporary blinding everyone present. For Slippy, however, it felt like the sun glared right in his face.

"AHH!"

He spun around and fell into a fetal position on the ground, hands covering his face. Cassius looked through the glare and frowned.

"Useless xeno!" he exclaimed, then at Jacques. "What is this?"

Jacques gritted his teeth as he tried to focus his eyes, then suddenly felt a massive weight strike him in the chest, followed by slammed against the wall right next to the doorway.

"TRAITORS!" Cassius bellowed.

Assembled before the restored Daemon gate were Abaddon's Chosen, the Sorcerer Zeraphiston standing in the center of the group, his glowing hand with his pointer and ring fingers thrust at Jacques, his dark power pinning him to the wall.

"Well," Zeraphiston's dark, yet bored voice grated against Jacques' eardrums. "The famous Jacques Jeán Mortensen. Who else but him to destroy this world's link to the other side?"

"The singular loyalist xeno-lover who vanquished a bloodthirster, an Undivided Chaos Lord, Lucius the Eternal himself and many of our brothers with only two decade's worth of fighting prowess?" the Khornate Champion sneered.

He snorted when Jacques got back onto his feet.

"Unheard of!"

Zeraphiston made a fist and Jacques collapsed onto the ground with a thud, shaking the ground so that it startled Slippy and made him open his eyes slowly, disorientation gripping him as he tried to stand up. He glimpsed through the doorway past the Terminators to see the Daemon gate reassembled and activated, producing a hellish red wormhole.

His eyes filled with horror at the sight. He quickly felt relief once he heard Jacques grunt as the Grey Knight stood back up.

'Jacques.'

The Terminators quickly positioned themselves so they surrounded the Chosen, weapons primed. Cassius gripped his Crozius Arcanum, ready to bring it down upon the closest heretic but wanting to say something…

Something…indeed.

"Why are you here?" Cassius demanded.

Devram smirked, "We have come for the cerulean vixen!"

Jacques spat out blood with contempt.

"Denied!" the Grey Knight simply growled.

Devram drew both his power sword and a whip, cracking it until it was filled with daemonic essence. The Terminators opened up with there storm bolters, which Zeraphiston quickly countered with a psychic shield. The Daemon gate suddenly spurted out a splash of chaotic energy, followed by…

"FURIES!"

…furry winged creatures that could be described as monkeys crossed with lizards. They poured out of the gate into the room, flying about and circling the room near the ceiling. Hissing and clawing one another, they proceeded to dive downward towards the Terminators. They all aimed upward and begun firing.

In the now crowded chamber as Zeraphiston stood his ground the three other Chosen all charged at the distracted Terminators, where they singled out and cut one of them down. Cassius charged at them and swung his mace, which was immediately parried by the Khornate Champion's glaive, then with his monstrous blood crazed strength bringing the blunted end against the Chaplain's chest and knocking him down.

With Nemesis in hand, Jacques charged against the Chosen, specifically the Khornate Champion.

"MORTEN…AH…YOU BRAT…!"

Jacques didn't swing Nemesis. Instead he suddenly dropped it and with both hands forward he rammed himself into the champion, grabbing him by the neck then taking him with him as he charged at the other champions and knocking them over…

"WAAH!"

"DAMNATION!"

…and unleashed a psychic wave that pushed them back and piled them on the ground.

Jacques gritted his teeth, 'These Champion are more than we can handle.'

He compared himself to them. Their millennia of experience on the field of battle compared to only his brief existence.

'Especially me.'

He was blasted back by Zeraphiston's staff, temporary surrounding him with Chaotic energy. Jacques quickly expelled it, gripping Nemesis with increased zeal. All of this happening while the Terminators were emptying their storm bolters at the swiping, diving Furies.

"You do not stand any sort of a chance against us," Devram mocked smirking. "For we are the elite! The Chosen of Abaddon!"

Cassius thought bitterly as he stomped on a downed Fury, "Damnation! So soon into this war we go up against the likes of the False God's champions?"

He glimpsed at Jacques facing down the Champions as they stood before the active Chaos gate.

Through gritted teeth, Jacques muttered. "It is to be expected."

He then hissed.

"Is it not?"

Zeraphiston replied coolly, "Yes, I suppose that is."

The Sorcerer then unleashed crimson bolts from his tainted force staff, which Jacques deflected with Krystal's staff, then with the sacred Cerinian weapon unleashed a series of ice blasts at the champions. The Khornate Champion deflected them with his glaive, spinning it like a protective shield before charging forward at Jacques with speed.

The Grey Knight dodged a furious swipe from the pole weapon, before grabbing it just below the blade, attemping to throw Khornate Champion he mentally referred to as 'Wolf' off balance. 'Wolf' growled and lunged at Jacques, punching the Grey Knight in the face with his iron gauntlet, breaking his nose. Jacques grunted in pain and the hand he held Nemesis he swung it over arm but 'Wolf' easily dodged.

A pained cry came from another Terminator as Devram attacked the elder Space Marine, who was not equipped to deal with close combat and so was downed. Jacques growled and face Zeraphiston, who launched another psychic blast.

Jacques gripped his staff tightly, feeding it his own psychic energy. He then roared…

"CERINIA!"

…and swung the staff, where instead of deflecting the Chaos blast the Cerinian artifact absorbed it. Still gritting his teeth and eyebrows crossed with determination, Jacques roared and unleashed the Chaotic blast upward at the ceiling, vaporizing every fury in the room, each of them letting out a disturbed wail. The chamber ceiling, however, was destabilized. Chunks of rock immediately begun to fall from the ceiling, one of which landed on Cassius' head.

"Mortensen, you fool!" the Chaplain exclaimed.

"EVACUATE, BROTHERS!" one of the Terminators cried.

The Chosen looked up at the ceiling as they kept close to the gate, not caring if the loyalist scum escape, seeing as how they couldn't fight them and hope to preserve themselves from the imminent cave-in at the same time . Devram looked unimpressed at Jacques.

"What in the warp was that?" he demanded.

"A reprieve!" Jacques exclaimed, angrily. "This is your only chance!"

"For what?" Zeraphiston asked.

"To escape my wrath," Jacques pointed at them as he sheathed Nemesis and the staff, stepping calmly over to the entrance. "You do not threaten Krystal and live to tell about it!"

Devram smirked, "You whelp! Your saying that will make capturing her and breaking her all the more sweeter."

"Should we be scared of you?" 'Wolf' taunted. "Bastard half-breed!"

Jacques paused upon hearing that. Half-breed?

"What?"

"JACQUES!"

He spun around to see Slippy having staggered back onto his feet.

"Go…now…"

The ceiling now caving it, Jacques charged out of the room just as Zeraphiston brought up atbarrier to protect himself and other Chosen from the collapsing rock. Jacques grabbed Slippy abd held him by the scruff of his suit as he ran as fast as his armor allow him until he caught up with Cassius and the other Terminators just outside the main temple entrance leading back out into the cavern, the dirt clouds blasting outward and engulfing the both of them.

Slippy coughed out loud as they stopped run, "What…was that all ab…?"

He yelped when Jacques dropped him roughly onto the ground. Jacques wiped the dirt off his left cheek and grimaced when he noticed blood from a cut on his forehead, before some spurted from his nose. Frowning, he quickly and quite messily reset his own nose with his finger, moulding it back to his original shape, much to Slippy's distaste.

"Slippy?" he noticed Slippy looking away, repulsed.

Slippy looked up at him, stung, "Yeah?"

"I have just decided: Do not follow me again. You only just get in the way."

"I was hoping you'd say that, kaff…" he coughed. "Being brave is bad for your...."

"Slippy!"

"Yeah."

"Be silent, please."

"S…sure."

----------

"SIR!" one of the technicians posted in the command center cried. "Collapse detected in Sector 31-A."

Peppy nodded, "The area with the security breach? Any casualties?"

"Unknown."

Peppy frowned, "Any luck getting Bowman on the line?"

"None, sir. His transmission to the Venomian wings engaging the Chaos fleet was sent on an encrypted channel. We can't pinpoint his location."

Slippy tapped his forehead as he sat down in his seat and pondered, 'Why is Dash suddenly being secretive? Is he planning something? No…he wouldn't risk the Imperium coming down on our heads if they thought he was going behind their backs.'

He then took a look at the large monitor on the wall of the center and noticed the number of enemy ships now in range and being detected by long-range planetary sensors.

'Figured the Chaos warfleet would be bigger than that,' he continued to ponder. 'Even if they have the biggest ships and the most long range weapons we could still survive long enough to close in on them and pound them.'

He thought harder.

'Abaddon's not trying to take the planet. It's something else.'

His eyes were wide open with panic as realization set in. Through Andross and the Orks Chaos had destroyed Cerinia, no doubt as part of their worship of the false gods, and there was only ONE Cerinian left in existence. It was so obvious…

"Krystal!"

----------

The battle in space hardly went anywhere for either side. The Chaos fleet stop progressing towards Venom's orbit, being held in place by the Coalition as both fleets exchanged fire. Though they inflicted massive amounts of damage from their lances, plasma and laser cannons they had yet to lose a single capital ship.

Hundreds of fighter craft however had been destroyed, their wreckage floating in the zero gravity of space, along with the intact, partially intact or completely charred remains of their pilots. Imperial Furies mingled with Cornerian and Venomian strike fighters either flying alongside one another or floating about in the blackness as wreckage. Katt briefly turned her head to the side and closed as she flew by a dead Cornerian pilot in space, briefly closing her eyes and giving him a moment of silence; the most she could do for a dead colleague given the circumstances. She then got right back into the fight.

Fox noticed the state of the Coalition fleet. The Imperial-made craft hadn't taken much damage as the Cornerian and Venomians and silently admitted that human-produced spacecraft definitely were made to last.

Fox.

"ROB? Report!"

Sensors indicate enemy ships are engaging reverse thrusters.

They're retreating? Falco shouted. That's bullshit!"

----------

Listening to the conversation on Venom's surface, Ui'Jakob and his team were confused. He and La'Tash turned to one another, they body movements suggesting that they were perplexed.

"That can't be right?" Ui'Jakob said. "They don't retreat."

"They haven't landed on the planet yet," La'Tash commented. "I don't think that counts."

Ui'Jakob frowned behind his helmet, "Something's not right."

He then looked up at the sky contemplatively.

'Krystal.'

----------

Flying through the swirling hellish vortex of the Immaterium, Zeraphiston grimaced as he concentrated on materializing himself and his Chosen comrades back in the world of the living.

'That foolish Cerinian vixen was not on the planet after all,' he thought. 'Instead she is delivering herself to Abaddon! This has been a damned waste of time and we lost the gate because of it!'

He then sensed familiar eldritch energy.

'Perhaps not!'

And he went about projecting himself towards the signal.

----------

Explosions went off all around Krystal as she steered her Arwing away from incoming fire from the attacking Claws. Skimming across a Chaos battleship she dodged their lascannon and barrel-rolled to avoid their missiles, firing her plasma cannons and trying to whittle away their shields so that the next lance blast from an Imperial cruiser would punch a hole through it.

She grunted in pain and closed her eyes, her migraines bad enough to make her almost black out.

"This…is wrong! I've never felt this sick around Chaos!" she mumbled, feeling her eye lids get heavy and her head begun to lull. "Got to…keep it together…"

Her momentary lapse of concentration caused her to fly straight towards another starship, drawing the alarm of Fox.

KRYSTAL, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

She looked up to see herself flying towards the Despoiler-class starship.

"Wha…?"

Pull up, Krystal!

"Oh Cerinia…!"

She came to her sense and pulled up, pulling a U-turn away from the Despoiler-class. She quickly put herself into a tail spin as Claw fighters zeroed in on her from all sides.

The Coalition defense fleet suddenly found every Claw fighter wing regrouping and flying back to the Chaos warfleet. Fox was alarmed to see hundreds of the Claws surrounded and overwhelmed Krystal like flies to rotten meat. He was even more alarmed when the Coalition defence fleet ceased it's engagement of the Chaos forces. The combined Cornerian, Venomian and Imperial fleet held their position, their attached fighter wings now hovering close by, no longer engaging the enemy as if being ordered on standby.

Katt was both perplexed and disgusted as she targeted and destroyed another Claw fighter, "Wing commander, what's going on?"

Monroe, respond!

"I'm here. Tell me what's going on already, commander."

You dropped off the com grid for a minute, the voice on the other end replied, exasperated. I repeat: Regroup immediately! Stalemate protocol's in place?

"Stalemate?"

It means when the enemy has ceased fire for no apparent, logical or strategic reason we must assume defensive standby and await enemy response, Fay explained. It was enacted in the latter stages of the Lylat W…

"Right! I get it!" Katt exclaimed. "Regrouping!"

----------

From the Battle-Barge Emperor Incarnatus Calgar watched the battle from the observation deck. He frowned intensely as zoom-in feature on the large observation window/monitor detected both standing off against one another, while one Arwing was being encircled and caged by a hundred enemy Claw fighters, with the Chaos capital ships moving to intercept it.

He tapped the vox button a nearby console and demanded, "Has Tigerius arrived at the site yet?"

Aye, my lord. He will be there momentary.

Calgar lifted his finger off the button and sighed roughly, "At the very least we can make sure one more Chaos has being permanently put out of commission."

He then closed his eyes tightly.

"Kemono can be such foolish creatures."

----------

"K…Krystal!" Fox exclaimed as he saw the Chaos fleet surround her. "What's happening over there?"

I don't know, came her reply. But they're not firing at me.

"Hang on, we're getting you out of there! Falco, regroup on me!"

On it!

Fox and Falco flew towards the Chaos fleet, immediately on the receiving end of heavy enemy fire. Try as they might they could not keep themselves from sustaining heavy damage as combined fighter and starship fire were flung in their direction.

"GODDAMN IT, NO!"

The quickly pulled back, Fox's left wing hanging by a thread while Falco G-Diffuser was exposed to the vacuum of space.

Shit! Never felt that kind of combined firepower before!

Krystal watched as both her comrades were forced to pull back. Her eyes widened in horror and she looked all around herself and the Claw fighters encircle her as an Infidel-class raider cruiser approached her.

"Wha…what is this?" she asked aloud, her eyes scanning the space ahead of her for an opening amidst the circling Claws.

What this is, Cerinian, is our sole demand presenting itself before you, a familiar voice hacked into her Arwing's communication system.

Her blood froze in her veins.

"Abaddon."

The voice was gruff, If we wanted to we could request reinforcements and blast our way through your pitiful defense and lay waste to this planet. The Coalition and billions of loyalist and xeno lives snuffed out by day's end.

He then paused to allow Krystal to reflect on that. She did, and she knew he wasn't bluffing. If the entire Chaos warfleet was here then the Coalition would definitely face oblivion, and so would humanity once they made their way toward Segmentum Pacificus.

Unless you surrendered yourself right now.

"Su…surrender?"

And we will not be forced to stab your precious Jacques Mortensen in the heart.

She shook in her seat when she heard that, eyes quivering in fear. She couldn't her anything because of her fear, not even Fox screaming at her through her com.

"J…Jacques?"

----------

His back on the destroyed entrance to the Chaos temple Jacques rubbed his forehead as he sensed eldritch energy generate from the rocks and the rubble of the Chaos temple.

He tapped his vox, "Hare, Has the civilians being completely evacuated from this sector?"

That is affirmative, Jacques, Peppy responded. Can you still sense something?

"Yes," Jacques replied. "And we need the Chief Librarian down here to seal it. His mind can it more than mine could."

He then asked.

"Fox? Falco? Krystal?"

No information coming in. It's figurative Chaos up there! But I know they're here for Krystal.

Jacques nodded, closing his eyes tightly and resisting the urge to cry out in frustration. "I have pieced it together myself, Peppy Hare. What can we do now?"

Slippy ran up to him, "What about the other guys? Are they alright?"

A familiar crimson light flashed before the cave-in entrance to the Chaos temple and there stood the Chosen.

"HERETICS RETURNED!"

The Ultramarines Terminators once again fired at them. The Chosen wasted no time, immediately engaging the closest two targets.

Jacques and Slippy.

Devram cackled as he charged at Slippy, thrusting his power sword forward at him.

"SLIPPY!"

Jacques spun around, Nemesis and staff in his hands, and stepped between Slippy and the Champion of Slaanesh. The Grey Knight blocked Devram's strike and parried him, long enough for Slippy to flee. 'Wolf' struck next, thrusting his glaive forward and piercing Jacques through the shoulder.

"AH!"

Jacques dropped the staff and thrust Nemesis with his other hand, the point piercing through 'Wolf's armour and into his chest. Wolf grunted and leapt backwards, Nemesis' point out of his chest and he fell down on his right knee, moving his left arm across the wound in his chest and the blood now pouring out o of it.

Slippy spun around to see Jacques fight off 'Wolf', but just as he noticed Devram approaching Jacques he quickly jumped out of Cassius' way as the Chaplain moved to assist him. Cassius suddenly frozen when a shrill cry of agony…

"RAAARGH!"

…pierced his ears and he saw that Devram had driven his power sword through Jacques' chest…and in the right side where his original heart is.

"JACQUES!"

Slippy felt tears well in his eyes as he saw two Chaos blades stick in Jacques.

"No…" he then croaked miserably.

----------

"Damnation!"

Tigerius arrived at the very end of Sector 2-B to witness all this unfold. His eyes twitched with barely contained fury, he gripped his force staff as he and his Space Marine escorts bellowed out loud as they charged.

Jacques gritted his teeth as he saw the sword sunk into his chest. What made him feel the pain inflicted by the sword wasn't it itself, but the disgusting smirk Devram wore on his face. He gritted his teeth when Devram twisted the blade slightly.

He felt himself black out as crimson struck him in the face. The last thing he heard was Slippy screaming and Tigerius cursing in rage…

----------

"KRYSTAL!"

The Despoiler-class starship hovered above Krystal's Arwing, which was then enveloped in a crimson field that slowly moved it towards one of the hangar entryway's built into the side of the ship. The Claws kept encircling Krystal, before breaking off and flying towards the Coalition fleet, intent on resuming the battle. Not wasting time, Fox hurtled himself towards the Chaos fleet, intent on stopping them.

"KRYSTAL!" he shouted again. "HOLD ON!"

Falco and Katt saw that Fox was once again diving back into the fray.

"Damn!" Falco exclaimed. "Fox you stupid asshole!"

But the desperate vulpine ignored them, and braved the laser fire that had already taken off his left wing. Another massive explosion later and Fox was hurled forward in the cockpit, his head slamming against his flight console.

He passed out just as he put his Arwing into a tailspin and killed his G-Diffuser for one last attempt to get away to safety, his final conscious thought being…

"Krystal."

* * *

So what do you think? Please read and review.


	6. Chapter 5: Resolve

**Disclaimer: See the Prologue**

_A/N: I'm changing the page dividers to (SF40K), since the usual dashes can't be seen any more…or at least I can't see them in my browser._

_Argh…how long has it been since I updated? My, this year's been a mixed bag for me. The best parts: Finding paid work and finally hunting down and collecting Usagi Yojimbo books (they're practically rare in Australia). The worst: A couple of other fan fics I've been reading for a long time suddenly progressed in a dark, sexual direction which really pisses me off. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets frustrated by stuff like this._

_And special thanks to my new beta – SF Ghost (cue slam-dunk, glass board shatters, massive round of applause)._

_

* * *

_

Chapter 5 – Resolve

* * *

_The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance._  
-Azhek Ahriman

It would be considered a monumental waste of galactic space to completely abandon an entire, habitable world just because a certain use for it was no longer required. In the case of the planet known as Eladard it was a sad truth. Much of the planet's surface over a period of a hundred years had been completely industrialised, during the much earlier wars fought during Corneria's ascension to primary government of Lylat. And this was before first contact with the Imperium a couple of hundred years later. Crumbling factory ruins, silos, production facilities and military installations were the battlefields that the artillery-savvy Iron Warriors legion of the Chaos Space Marines and the T'au/Farsight/Cornerian coalition fought on.

Within his modified crimson-coloured battlesuit Shas'O Shovah grimaced as he hacked away at the squad of cultist militants he had managed to get the drop on. Their lasguns and Cornerian blasters and rifles were of little use up close as the rogue Tau Commander's Dawn Blade sliced through them, sending their body parts or whole corpses flying. When he was done, stains of crimson blood were all over the wall within the factory.

"Shas'vre'Law!" he exclaimed into his com. "Report!"

_Enemy forces still surround our sector, Commander . Artillery's pinned Farsight teams four and seven. Contact lost with T'au teams three, four and ten, _Shas'vre Law reported, a note of slight exasperation in his voice as he relayed the news to his superior.

"Bring the Hammerheads up and destroy those artillery pieces." O'Shovah ordered resolutely.

"_Affirmative, Shas'O."_

"Estimated time until reinforcements arrive?"

"_Five minutes, sir. Sensors detect Imperial craft in orbit and currently engaging enemy warfleet."_

"Get your men under cover as soon as possible. No doubt according to Imperial protocol the humans will unleash orbital fire upon us to clear out enemy positions."

There was a brief silence over the com, before the Shas'Vre responded hesitantly, _"Yes… Shas'O."_

From behind a steel defilade one Cornerian soldier listened in the com with one hand to his left earpiece.

His right hand gripped his blaster pistol, and as he listened to the dismal news on the com, he fired at some of his former comrades. His earlier colleagues had succumbed to the wiles of the Warp, and they were now rushing his position as gun-crazy cultists, yelling unbelievable obscenities as they went. Almost absentmindedly, the Cornerian watched his shots strike home, hitting them both in the chest and downing them. His eyes widened when he heard the Tau mention 'Imperial' and 'orbital bombardment.' Another soldier looked at him, shocked.

"Are they friggin' kidding me?"

Cringing, the com-soldier grabbed his companion by the shoulder, "No they're not! And you know what that means, right?"

The two Cornerians abandoned their position and ran for the nearest bunker amidst laser and bolter fire. They dove through the gun port of their sector's bunker, almost knocking the gunner away from his post. Seconds later, orbital fire tore through the skies and struck every enemy position within the district, vaporising nearly all cultist activity and bringing up tons of dust, debris and gibs into the air.

Luckily the Coalition, having adapted to the Imperial ways of warfare, had quickly retreated themselves into overhead cover. Some of the younger, inexperienced Cornerian soldiers covered their ears to drown out the sound of laser fire upon the planetary surface.

The bombardment lasted for a full minute, then the Coalition troops crawled out of the rubble.

"Damn Gue'la!" one Tau Fire Warrior cursed as he crawled out of cover and surveyed the now burning factory district, relieved that he saw that no Cornerian or Tau were caught in the crossfire amongst nearly a hundred dead cultists.

The coms were immediately jammed with transmissions broadcasting back and forth…

_All squad leaders, report now!_

_Farsight teams one through eight reporting._

_T'au team one through ten reporting._

_This is Cornerian squads , no casualties from orbital strike. Good lord, we actually survived one of those _

_things._

(SF40K)

General Sturnn checked his wrist-mounted storm bolter magazine for a second time as he sat in the passenger cabin of the Aquila Lander. Commissar Rowan Plymouth AKA Anton Gabbit sat across from him, his hat on the chair next to him and his arms crossed as he looked out the window and the industrial complex they were currently flying over.

_Sturnn, this is fire control. We've cleared out the Landing Zone. Immediate Guardsmen deployment is advised before enemy artillery positions readjust fire, over._

"Received, fire control," Sturnn replied into the vox receiver. "Stand by for further orders. We'll need you again soon enough.

Plymouth snorted as Sturnn closed the line. The middle-aged General looked over at the older Commissar.

"Is there a problem, Commissar?"

"Only that the xeno has lasted this long and has not fallen underneath Chaos steel boots, General Sturnn," Plymouth replied. "Once again we defile ourselves fighting beside these…things."

Sturnn frowned and loaded up his storm bolter, "They are useful for the time being. Besides, we were already damned the moment we agreed to form this coalition."

Plymouth nodded solemnly, "This is true."

(SF40K)

Slippy wiped his eyes as he finally willed himself to stop weeping. He sat against the wall outside the infirmary of the heavily armed and armoured Cornerian Juggernaut-class, currently in transit surrounded by a dozen other Cornerian warships with the Great Fox II following close behind. It had been four hours since the Chaos attack on Venom was repelled. Spirits and morale hadn't been lifted, seeing that two of the Coalition's most important figures had practically vanished off the galaxy map.

Two who were Slippy's friends. One of whom he had witnessed being stabbed in the heart and taken away by the lapdogs of the Chaos Gods. He swore he tasted Jacques' blood as some of it sprayed everywhere; and it tasted just like his blood or anyone else's.

"You ok, Slip?"

Slippy looked up to see Falco step out of the infirmary, immediately reaching for a cigarette from the half-empty carton in his left pocket.

"Y-yeah," Slippy said.

Falco snorted, "With the waterworks you had going I guess you really do have a thing for Jacques, eh?"

(A/N: A follow up to Falco's quip about Slippy and Jacques from the first SF40K – GJ)

"Screw you, Falco," Slippy growled. "I saw my friend get impaled through the heart and that…"

He felt tears in his eyes well up again and he sniffed.

"…that…took a lot outta me. I'll never get that image outta my head, ever."

Beat.

"How's Fox doing?"

Falco shook his head, smiling, "He's okay. Nothing short of a goddamn miracle. Those bastards lost interest in him when they got their steel gloves on Krystal, and we just swooped in and rushed him the hell out of there..."

The avian stopped talking when he noticed some redness on the left side of Slippy's face.

"Hey, what happened there?" Falco tapped his own cheek.

Worn, Slippy narrowed his eyes into slits and groaned, "Amanda called Jacques a self-righteous, egomaniacal ape with a Messiah complex, called me a reckless asshole and then threw a left hook at me."

"Ow…seriously?"

Slippy then surprisingly chuckled, "She then apologised a hundred times to me. I know, I counted."

He was then serious.

"So once Fox is back on his feet he's gonna be leading us back into battle once again? That soon?"

Falco shrugged as he lit his cigarette, "Why d'ya think Peppy had him moved here? The skinnies' way of recirculation must be rubbing off him."

"God I hope not," Slippy shook his head. "'cuse me."

He walked into the infirmary, his mood immediately brightening when he saw Fox dressed in his usual suit, except for his flight vest sitting on the edge of the bed. He was staring down at his feet and rubbing the back of his head as a brown-furred male squirrel doctor in a labcoat was writing away on a clipboard.

Slippy grinned and drew Fox's attention, "So how's he doing?"

"Just fine," the squirrel replied. "Everything checks out. You're released from here, McCloud."

"Thanks," Fox nodded, then turned to Slippy. "Hey Slip."

"Fox," Slippy still smiled. "You ok?"

The vulpine groaned in discomfort as he got off the bed and stood up, "Yes…and no."

"No?"

Fox downcast his eyes, "They've got…Krystal and Jacques. The doc told me… uhhh…"

He rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"…they came for her, I know it."

Slippy nodded and sighed, "We all know that for sure. And knowing Chaos, Jacques' already dead, isn't he?"

Fox was plain faced, almost emotionless. He then suddenly got off the bed and stormed past Slippy, almost knocking him down, towards the door.

"There's no way…hey, wait…"

Fox held his breath and quickly walked out of the infirmary with Slippy following close behind, panicked.

"Aw jeez…I didn't mean it that way! C'mon Fox, wait up…!"

"Hey Fox."

Falco saw them leave the infirmary and walked beside him.

"Up already?"

Fox exhaled sharply, "Obviously, Falco."

"Where you going?"

"The bridge! Need to know where we're headed and why."

"I-I-I could just tell you…" Slippy stammered.

"Then tell me!" Fox exclaimed, still walking.

Falco noticed them walk ahead of him at a quicker pace.

"Ah, goddammit…" he grumbled, his own movement close to running as he caught up to them.

(SF40K)

Within the bridge of the juggenaut-class starship the large gray-skinned rhinoceros in Cornerian fleet uniform with his name (Hague) stood before the floating holo-screen projections of General Pepper and the Lord Macragge Calgar. He stood there, back straight and hands crossed behind his back.

"Fifteen starships ferrying ten-thousand Lylatian soldiers, approximately four-thousand of them conscripts with only a week's worth of training," Hague stated. "A legion of Space Marines dedicated to a god of dark sorcery and who-knows how a big a cultist army they got watching their backs. What are our odds?"

_Just as good or bad as any other commander in the field, captain_, Peppy replied. _Me included. I'm assuming command of the Cornerian 67__th__ through to 70__th__ from here._

_Yes, you and the officers under your command concentrate on the Chaos armada above Fortuna, _Calgar said. _General Sturnn and the 412__th__ division under his command are reinforcing the Coalition forces on Eladard while I, my brothers and Cornerian forces under Mick will attempt to establish a staging post on Katina._

_The Tau under Aun'shi's personal command are currently en-route to Fichina. Admiral Hancock has reported a break in the enemy formation above the planet and are preparing to reinforce the garrison protecting the science academy grounds, Peppy explained. We have our strategies in place, captain, and we're not deviating from them for any reason._

Hague smiled, feeling relief from Peppy's own confidence, "Understood."

"PEPPY!"

Fox, Falco and Slippy stepped onto the bridge and approached the centre of the room where the rhinoceros was having his conference

Peppy's eyebrows raised, _Fox, you're up already_.

"Save it, Pep," Fox growled dangerously. "We've got to find Krystal...now"

Peppy sighed over the com, _Not that simple, Fox._

"The hell it is!"

_We have no idea where to find her_, Calgar added, seriously. _Or Jacques for that matter._

His left hand gripping his headfur in frustration, Fox moaned, "We have to do something! Anything!"

Calgar frowned, unimpressed by Fox losing control of himself, _Control yourself, Fox. Once the Chief Librarian can sense his psychic emanations and can pinpoint either him or the Cerinian somewhere within this system we can organise recovery immediately._

'And they'll be dead by the time they reach them,' Fox thought, angrily.

Fox looked away, teeth gritted behind his sealed lips.

"Er…Fox?" Falco begun.

"Fuck…." Fox hissed to himself.

_In the meantime, however, _Calgar said. _Where you are now, your expertise at the helm of the Arwng will be most invaluable. Out!_

Calgar's image faded, leaving only Peppy's. The old hare was silent for a few seconds.

"Whatever," Fox muttered out loud.

_Well…urm…yes. Fox, Hague, prepare to be engaged shortly. Hare out._

Peppy's image disappeared. Captain Hague turned to face Star Fox, not expecting the famous Fox McCloud to be reduced to a nervous wreck. And quite frankly to him that was something of a demoraliser.

"McCloud?"

Fox glared at him and hissed, "Get us back to our ship! We'll deal with those bastards once Fortuna is in eyeshot."

(SF40K)

An area of material space not far from the warped, pulsating Beltino orbital gate was torn just above the newly christened daemon world of Corneria, and emerging out of it was the Chaos warfleet, having returned from their brief assault on Venom. Immediately approaching the fleet at a slow pace was quite possibly the largest ship in the sector, resembling something torn from any Imperial helmsman's worst nightmare.

It was massive, larger than any other ship in the Chaos warfleet with some slight resemblance to the Great Fox II, only that it was close to ten times it's size. Thousand of lascannons, missile pods and other assorted gun batteries lined the bow and hull, while four massive lance batteries were outside the tower that made up the command centre and bridge.

It was the Planet Killer – Abaddon's personal flagship, thought destroyed by the Imperium many years previously, but seemingly now rebuilt. It could be seen from the one of the many hangars of the lead cruiser of the small cluster of ships it was approaching, and from where Abaddon stood, which was directly in front of the shield that kept the vacuum out of that section of the ship , it would seem Planet Killer was slowly inching towards him.

Not to mention the Arwing that now laid in shattered pieces behind him, pieces of it's engines and other hardware strewn about the floor. A small hill of Lylatian and human cultic corpses was piled up nearby (one of whom had a piece of G-Diffuser through his skull), their blood running off his power claw and Drac'nyen, his daemon sword.

The Sorcerer Zeraphiston, the Chosen and several Black Legion Space Marines stood nearby, having watched the spectacle for a quarter of an hour. Stepping forward and clearing his throat, Zeraphiston inquired, "Are you feeling better now, my lord?"

Abaddon frowned, "Would you have preferred I rip you to shreds, Sorcerer? You know who was behind this. Why Mortensen and the last Cerinian are not before me now on the edge of death."

"Eldar, my lord."

"They cannot be here just because of our presence here," Abaddon declared. "They must know of the Titan's existence as well."

The Chosen glanced at one another, seemingly hearing about the existence of a Titan war engine for the first time. Except for Devram who was just frowning at his master with much intensity, embittered over losing his sword; last seen pierced through Jacques Mortensen's chest and into his heart.

"My lord," Malogurst the Twisted stepped forwarrd. "The Eldar will make use of the Cerinian and Mortensen if it would mean confrontation with that accursed Librarian. And through him they will locate the Imperator Titan before us."

"Then we will reinforce Fortuna, then," Abaddon declared. "Ahriman has said that the Imperial facility on Fortuna will only reveal the location of the Imperator once the aptly-titled Sphere of Power is placed where it belongs. Devram…!"

The Slaaneshi champion stepped forward, "My lord."

"You will accompany my Black Legion reinforcements to Fortuna," Abaddon ordered. "Perhaps you will be able to retrieve your sword from Mortensen's chest."

"At once, my lord," Devram smirked.

"And you will bring the Cerinian back to me," Abaddon added. He then addressed Zeraphiston. "And I want her prepared for sacrifice once we locate the Titan."

"And what will happen then?" Zeraphiston queried.

Abaddon frowned even more intensely, "That…is for the Dark Gods to reveal to us. They shall pull back the curtains, and we shall see what is behind it."

(SF40K)

He was a young blue furred vulpine boy, about five years old with deep blue eyes. His white head-fur was arranged like a small twirl and he was dressed in a red shirt and green pants. He was stumbling alone through the darkness, his arms around himself as he appeared lost and unsure of his surroundings.

The little fox boy looked ahead to see a bright spinning light up ahead and someone lying down on the ground before it. Smiling widely he suddenly laughed playfully and ran towards it, hands stretched towards it as if ready to embrace it. When he got closer…

"Wha…?"

…his smile faded as he saw the young Cerinian woman lying beneath a purple sheet. He immediately clutched the emerald necklace around his neck with his left hand and knelt before the woman, emotion playing heavily on his face. Letting go of his necklace he reached towards the woman and begun pushing her shoulder gently in an attempt to wake her.

"Mommy…"

"Uhhhhh…."

Krystal couldn't help but sigh in relief. She felt her migraines finally starting to subside as she opened her eyes once again. She thought she heard a child's voice, but when she glanced to her side she found no-one there.

"Uh."

The last thing she remembered was having close to a hundred enemy fighters closing in on her as the Chaos starship hovered just above, Falco calling Fox a stupid asshole over the communication, then barely noticing Fox's Arwing going into a tailspin as his wings were blown off. Then an intense white flash followed by a black nothingness.

She covered her eyes as she felt an intense glare on them, opening them gradually to reveal that she was lying naked under a purple sheet, her head on a white pillow and her back on something cool and smooth that felt like marble. The blue light came from a shining, spinning rupee atop a small disk on top of a tri-stand. The rupee gradually stopped shining brightly and just enough to illuminate her position, which was surrounded by darkness.

'Where am I?' she thought.

She stood up, keeping herself wrapped in the blanket.

'Where is here, exactly?' she mentally corrected herself. 'This isn't the nothingness they say that comes with death, and I feel…warm.'

She felt her forehead.

'Very warm. I feel…alive. I-I'm alive!'

_You should feel alive._

Krystal raised her eyebrows in wonderment when she heard something serene speaking to her in her mind.

'Who are you?' she quickly queried.

_Follow the sound of my voice, and you will find me and the Man with Vulpine Eyes._

Krystal's eyes widened, clutching the blanket to herself even tighter as she instinctively kept her ears open for 'her voice.'

"Jacques?" she cried out. "What's happened to him?"

She then heard the voice, sounding like an echo just ahead of her through the thick darkness.

"You were born amongst the Mon'keigh…amongst their ignorance, their arrogance, their depravity…"

Feeling her bare feet against the cold marble she ran through the darkness, holding her sheet firmly to herself.

"Jacques!"

(SF40K)

"…for a time you shared in their misguided crusades to bring order to this universe of disorder, only to finally come across your better half, your significant other. Her."

Jacques looked as if by rights he should be dead. But there he was, lying on his side in nothing but his loincloth with shards of his armour scattered all over the marble floor, Devram's power sword through his chest and his eyes closed intensely as sweat emerged from his pores, no doubt running a fever. Kneeling over him was a tall, female humanoid encased in black and white form-hugging wraithbone armour and a skirt. Her long jet-black hair and eyes complimented her elven-like face. Her left hand felt the Grey Knight's forehead as her right hand touched the blade that was in his chest.

His eyes opened slowly, seeing a familiar face hover above his own.

"Farseer T-Taldeer?"

"Sergeant Jacques Mortensen. Man with Vulpine Eyes. The Grey Knight. Knight of Cerinia. Whatever I must call you, you still walk and breathe amongst us."

She stood up and grasped the sword's hilt, and with hardly any effort she pulled it out of his chest, blood spraying upward from his wounded heart. Jacques' mouth opened as if to scream but nothing came save for a grunt. She then placed her hand over the wound as she focused her eldritch power, her hand glowing blue. She was intent on returning the favour to one whom she never thought she would ever owe herself to.

Jacques stared up at the blackness as Taldeer continued repairing the damage to his heart before closing the wound. When she retracted her hand there was a scar in his black carapace just above where his first heart was. Taldeer smiled and moved herself so that Jacques could see her.

"We are now even, Jacques," Taldeer spoke rather tenderly.

"We are?"

"You saved my life back in the Medusa system, and now I have saved yours," Taldeer explained. "I pulled you from the Immaterium where your body and soul were being dragged towards the void by that tainted personal sorcerer of the Despoiler."

"You mean away from the Chosen?" Jacques sat up on the floor, his hands flat on the ground behind him for support. "How could you have done so?"

"Through our connection to the stars, the Immaterium and beyond, how else?"

Taldeer removed her helm, revealing her long black hair and elegant slim elven face. Jacques seemed at a loss for words as the Farseer revealed herself to him, and couldn't help but feel s quiet sense of privilege.

"Is Krystal's staff…?"

"It is safe," Taldeer continued. "As well as your own sword."

Jacques grunted as he stood up, feeling wobbly on his feet before his gene-seed countered it. He almost slipped on the marble-like floor, hissing in annoyance. Though Taldeer was taller than the average normal human he towered above her, causing him to look down upon her but not so that he was figuratively above her. Rather he looked at her expressionlessly, seeing her as his equal. Taldeer smiled up at him because of it.

"What do you see before you?" Taldeer asked.

"Farseer Taldeer of Ulthwe Craftworld."

"Not a xeno? A non-human?"

"I do not see, or judge you, for that."

Jacques' eyes lit up when he suddenly felt her hand caress his cheek. Taldeer stood up on her toes so that their faces were near each other.

"Do not ever change, Jacques Jeán Mortensen. Never, ever change."

Just as Jacques was about to pull away from her, Taldeer quickly closed the gap between them, crushing his lips with hers in a delicate kiss. This only lasted a brief moment until the both of them heard an angry snarl and Taldeer was thrown back. Jacques looked down to briefly glimpse at the naked backside of Krystal standing before him, wrapped in a blanket and facing Taldeer down with an angry look on her face, a faint trace of jealous redness showing on her cheeks past her fur.

Though the kiss was brief, it immediately brought up past memories and none of them were happy. He was glad for Krystal's intervention, but curious about why she was even here.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Krystal demanded angrily of the Eldar Farseer. "If you tried to hurt Jacques…!"

"You need not worry, Cerinian," Taldeer spoke as she stood back and brushed her dress off. "I was merely expressing thanks in a way he would remember it."

Krystal frowned, reached for the edges of her towel and tightened it when she noticed it was becoming loose.

"Hmph…yes, well…a simple thank you would have been enough," Krystal grumbled, giving a sideward glance to a flabbergasted Grey Knight. She turned back to Taldeer and asked, "Who are you?"

"Taldeer of Ulthwe Craftworld. We have come to join you in the conflict against the Forces of Disorder."

"I suspected you would," Jacques said. "You intervene in the interests of Chaos once they reach such a scale it threatens all Eldar."

"Always," Taldeer said. "But we intervene of behalf of like-minded individuals such as yourself."

"But there is more to it this time around, is there not?"

"There is," Taldeer said. "It involves the Black Library itself."

Jacques instinctively raised his eyebrows when she mentioned the much-revered mysterious Black Library of the Eldar.

Slowly recollecting herself following her seemingly uninvited intimate gesture towards her closest friend, Krystal unwittingly thought back to her childhood and her mother: beautiful Queen Heliodar. How at night, when she was tucked into bed and just before she would go to sleep, her mother would spin such heroic stories involving noble Cerinian sorcerer-warriors, marauding human rogue traders and the mysterious pointy-eared humanoids that they would encounter. Sometimes for the best, but mostly always for the worst.

Suffice to say she thought the existence of the Eldar were myth. But then again she thought the same of humans.

"How do you mean?" Krystal asked as she came out of her stupor, relaxed enough to stop frowning, instead staring at the elvish-like woman curiously.

Taldeer closed her eyes and sighed, "The Despoiler's hold on Lylat is fragile, for he is waging war on two fronts. Here, and outside the Imperial gates, outside what is known as the Eye of Terror."

"Cadia," Jacques said, determinedly. "Remnants of the 13th Black Crusade…"

"It had never ended," Taldeer interjected. "Chaos still has their footing on the fortress world and has inflicted many Imperial casualties."

Krystal rubbed her forehead as realisation hit her like a sledgehammer.

"So the enemy is attacking the Imperium from _two_ sides," Krystal stated. "Here, and through the Eye of Terror."

She frowned.

"A pincer offensive."

"Correct," Taldeer nodded.

Jacques shook his head and clenched his hands.

"You wish to join the conflict? Then I assume you know a vital area of theirs that we can strike?" Jacques inquired. "And preferably with haste through your Webway."

"We do," Taldeer said. "And we are prepared."

Jacques smiled, which took Krystal by surprise.

"Where, exactly?"

(SF40K)

_Enemy armour approaching from the northwest. Divert all available anti-armour __to the northwestern__ wall._

_Goddammit! We__ still got refugees pouring in from the southern entrance and they're being ripped to shreds! We need backup now  
_

_WHERE THE HELL'S OUR AIR SUPPORT!_

_Holy God…what the hell is that thing?  
_

_SHOOT IT! FUCKIN' SHOOT IT!  
_

_H-HELP! HELP ME! ARGHHHHHHHH…!  
_

_F-f-rom H-H-hell…it's f-from H-Hell.  
_

_Incoming aerial bogies, why isn't the anti-air locked onto them…?_

_Aircraft registration codes detected…what a minute…!  
_

_COMMAND, IT'S THE STAR FOX TEAM!_

_Yep, here we come to save the day…again!_

The com-chatter interspersed with the sounds of war cracked through the speakers of the three Arwings and one experimental 'Bullfrog' fighter as they re-entered Fortuna's atmosphere and rapidly approached the stratosphere. Fox adjusted his head-seat as he heard Falco joked dryly over the coms.

The Cornerian fleet en-route to Fortuna had been quick to engage the enemy occupying the orbit above the planet, immediately fortifying their frontal shields in time to receive long-range missile fire from the Chaos warships. One capital ship however was practically cut down the middle by Chaos several lance batteries just as the Cornerians entered firing range, unleashing heavy laser and missile pods by the thousand. Right now they continued to battle in space above the planet.

Star Fox deployed themselves and had immediacy headed straight for the planet's surface, managing to not draw any attention from the Chaos fighter squadrons. Right now they were heading towards the source of the numerous transmissions they had just intercepted from one of five walled cities on the jungle planet's surface.

"Clearing re-entry," Slippy said. "Amazon City in visual range…"

The city itself appeared in better shape then expected as the planetary defence forces fought back against the invaders from all sides. The circular walls surrounding the city were close to being demolished, however, and enemy troops were seeing pouring through the cracks. Blue-garbed cultists waving battle standards with the serpentine ouroboros symbol of Tzeentch; twisted mutating daemons, the servants of said Lord of Change and the traitorous, corrupted Space Marines that had pledged their loyalty to him thousands of years earlier. Those same Marine that now existed as walking, hollow suits of armour following their fate at the hand of Ahriman.

"Alright, no heroics this time. We're staying in the air!" Fox exclaimed. "Just thin em' out and let Peppy's guys handle them. Slippy, Katt, keep them away from the walls. Falco, we're taking out their wings. And I repeat…"

He frowned.

"We are staying in the air."

_Gladly_, Slippy said over the com. _No way I'm getting up close to them again._

_I hear ya' Foxy_, Katt said. Jacques' not around and he ain't gonna bail us out if we go toe to toe with them again.

_Brilliant reasoning, absolutely brilliant,_ Falco drawled. Let's do this.

The Arwings broke formation, Fox and Falco immediately engaged a squadron of Claws firing on a high-rise building while Katt and Slippy headed towards the north-western walls where the fighting was the heaviest. They opened up with their weapons on the Chaos Havoc squads firing from the top of the wall, Slippy's heavy fighter plasma blasting tiny chunks out of the walls and taking the Chaos Havocs with them.

_Whoa! Nice one, Toad_, Katt stated_. You tinkered some more on the guns?_

"You noticed?" Slippy said determinedly. "Whoa…look out!"

Katt narrowly missed a rocket-propelled grenade from one of the exotically dressed fox cultists, before returning fire and reducing him to ash. They begun to perform a sweep over the walls, firing away at the enemy troops on the walls, before performing a u-turn and turning their attention to the Chaos forces approaching the walls from the jungle; avoiding massive amount of bolter, laser and rocket fire.

"Whoa…gettin' serious!" Katt cried.

"You mean it wasn't before?" Slippy practically shrieked over the com. "How many of these guys are there?"

_MORE THAN ENOUGH, STAR FOX!_

(SF40K)

Chaos Sorcerer-Lord Tlaken of the Thousand Sons looked up past the trees at the Arwing and the Bullfrog fighters flying above the wall, himself surrounded by four of his own trusted Sorcerers and a retinue of Chaos Terminators. He knew that neither of the pilots of the fighters were Chaos' current greatest threat. Hence, Tlaken steeled himself to bring the threat out into the light.

"I know you are up there, Fox McCloud!" he exclaimed, his voice projected towards a nearby vox-communicator. "You are responsible for the lives of every last tree-climbing fur on this planet, do you hear me?"

Yeah, and I'm gonna save them from you, came Fox's response. Me, my team and all the other 'furs' that're standing against you tin cans.

The ornately armoured Sorcerer-Lord smirked, "Say that again?"

Artillery was suddenly dropped behind the Chaos Lord and his retinue, sending tree, rock, cultists and gore flying while Tlaken and his retinue stood their ground, unaffected. They could see Cornerian dropships descending from the sky by the hundred, the smaller ones with troops already rappelling downward onto the high-rise buildings, the larger ones landing on city streets while their gun emplacements lay down covering fire for the Fortuna garrison fighting against the Tzeentchian forces scattered through the city..

_I said 'all the other furs that're standing against…(bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)_

The vox suddenly went dead just as Tlaken smiled behind his helm, his staff glowing in his left hand. He looked up at the sky.

"Right on time."

(SF40K)

"What the…? Com's gone dead!" Fox was startled. "Slippy? Falco? Katt? SHIT!"

He was jolted forward when the rear of his Arwing received heavy fire from pursuing Claw fighters. Grinding his teeth he barrel-rolled to avoid their fire, flying past buildings and skyscrapers in an effort to loose them. Heading straight toward one building he pulled his flight controls back and flew up the length of it. He couldn't help but feel dismay when the Claws continued to pursue him, however. They were then suddenly blasted to pieces by Falco, Katt and Slippy.

"Katt? Slippy? Can you guys hear me?"

_(Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)  
_

"What's jamming the coms? More sorcery crap!"

He then closed his eyes and dared to concentrate, and suddenly felt his eyes begin to bleed as he felt the eldritch power that was blanketing the area, if not the whole planet.

He and his team-mates levelled their Arwings and flew above the city so they could see each other from one another's cockpit. He turned to his left to see Falco at his side and tapped his window. He saw the avian look back and shrug. He looked to his right to see Slippy, who was pointing upward towards the sky, before making the slit throat expression.

"Up there?" Fox said, hoping that Slippy could see his mouth movements.

'Jamming,' he saw Slippy mouth the words.

'Uh-oh,' Fox thought.

He then looked ahead towards the Claw fighters bearing down on the team.

'Krystal,' he thought bitterly. 'Where are you?'

(SF40K)

Adorned in his Aegis Power Armour once again, Jacques grimaced when he glanced at the full-sized mirror and saw the hole in his side of his breastplate where the heart in the left side of his chest was. While he was thankful for Taldeer for healing him, he doubted if she was able to truly reverse the damage the Slaaneshi champion of Abaddon inflicted on him. Not physically, but spiritually.

To be struck by the blade of a chosen champion of the Dark Gods and to live would mean damnation in the eye of the Imperium and the Emperor. But for the moment, he didn't feel damned, and he didn't feel the ill, carnal desires associated with the Prince of Excess. He glimpsed at the 7 shaped scar on his head and ran his right pointer finger across it.

'Seven.'

He thought he briefly saw an image of the teenage lupine girl that now only existed in his memories, having left the material realm almost a lifetime ago. He couldn't remember the last time he thought about her, the kiss they both shared and the declaration of her love for him just as she died in his arms, murdered by the man he would prefer never to name.

And the man that ruined his life.

"Jacques?" the other woman in his life, the living one, called out to him with much concern.

"I am ready," Jacques called back, drawing Nemesis from its sheath on his back.

"So am I," came Krystal's response.

Jacques raised his eyebrows when she stepped into the light of the darkened chamber, to see her equipped in black/cream-coloured wraithbone armour that clung to her figure, and wearing a blue-coloured headband just underneath her hairline. In spite of their present situation and what awaited them after this she smiled at his reaction.

"Just as well they have armour in my size," Krystal said.

"Yes, just as well," Jacques said. "No doubt they could outfit (customise?) their armaments towards the standards of any species they feel is necessary to equip for war."

Krystal looked at him curiously, "You sound very bitter about that."

Jacques sighed, "They are not above manipulating other species for their own benefit, Krystal."

The vixen's eyes widened when she felt Taldeer's presence behind them. Jacques, however, appeared indifferent.

"That is true," Taldeer said. "We have done so many, many times before throughout humanity's existence amongst the stars. And yet…"

Taldeer looked at him oddly.

"…I am surprised to hear you say, of all people, that."

"It is truth, is it not?" Jacques said. "Whatever reason you are here for you will no doubt manipulate us all to help you achieve your own ends, yet we need all the help we can possibly get."

Jacques then frowned.

"I must ask, Farseer: Will it cost human, and Lylatian, lives in the process? Would they be necessary?"

Krystal could tell that, despite Jacques respect and acceptance of the Farseer, that he was wary of her. And something told her that she should be as well

"I may as well ask of you, Grey Knight: Was the destruction of Cerinia, Evergreen, Falconia and Papetoon, not to mention billions of souls, necessary to stem the tide of Chaos? At least…temporarily?"

Jacques bit his lip, and Krystal thought she saw anger blaze in his eyes with that brief mention of Cerinia and those billions of lives. She knew she was angry.

"I…" he struggled to formulate an answer.

"We are wasting time discussing your convoluted loyalties," Taldeer interrupted as she raised a hand towards him. "Now come, we have a war to fight."

Jacques exhaled in relief and nodded, he then turned to Krystal as Taldeer walked off, seeing the vixen glare at her.

"Krystal?"

"What?" she almost snapped, still reeling from Taldeer's mention of her planet of birth.

"Let us go."

Krystal's face became softer, before nodding and extending her staff. As they followed Taldeer into the darkness…

"Jacques?"

The Grey Knight looked over his shoulder at her.

"Once we meet up with the others," she said. "I…I want to talk to you about something…personal."

"Personal?"

"Yeah," Krystal said. "After…we find Fox, that is…I mean…"

Jacques noticed how she stuttered and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, then," Jacques said, awkwardly.

Jacques looked ahead as they walked, confused. Krystal, however, felt her cheeks flush from embarrassment and if it weren't for her fur then everyone could see that she was blushing brightly.

(SF40K)

"Heads up, enemy convoy approaching city limits. Positions, everyone!"

"Charges set! Hit it once they roll over! Stall em' as long as ya' can!"

As the battle for Amazon City raged on, a platoon of Cornerians found themselves digging in within the jungle as they steeled themselves for Thousand Sons' reinforcements. Armed with the heaviest armaments that was available, from armour-piercing sniper rifles, Demon rocket launchers and gun emplacements, they took up positions behind trees, amongst the branches of trees, behind rocks and within spider holes.

The officer leading them, an elder koala major, found himself peering at his burning city from atop the tallest tree in the area. The heads-up display of his zoom goggles suddenly alerted him to the presence of a Tzeentch Land Raider Heavy Tank/Armoured Transport rolling through the jungle, knocking over trees and splintering them beneath its treads, followed by a large platoon of Space Marines.

The officer noted their blue/gold colour scheme and the ornate crests on their helm. Sweating slightly he put his zoom goggles down and went for his rifle and held his breath slightly as the Land Raider passed by beneath them. With one hand he went for the carved wooden whistle he had hanging around his neck and shakily put it to his lips.

'Here goes,' he thought. 'Die now or…'

He blew into it, producing a sound akin to a wild beast. The Marines didn't take note of it, until the explosive charges in the ground beneath the Land Raider detonated and did significant damage beneath the armoured vehicle.

'…die after unleashing HELL on these armoured bastards!'

The Cornerians moved from their hiding places to open fire on the seemingly surprised Marines, when suddenly…

"All is Dust"

…they heard thewhispered battle cry of the Thousand Sons echo around them before crimson energy explosions tore apart the entire area, flushing the Cornerians from their hiding places and sending them flying, tearing many of them apart. The koala officer suddenly fell out of his tree and landed on his back, and as he got up he felt an armoured boot on his chest, pinning him down.

Taken by surprise, the remaining Cornerians attempted to flee. However, the eldritch Chains of Torment – manifestations of Chaotic energy in the form of writhing chains - materialized out of the ground and snatched each one of them. They screamed in agony as the warp-infused bindings wrapped themselves around them and tore them to shreds. The koala glanced up to see the hollow walking suits of armour known as the Rubric Marines standing above them and the Sorcerer that was leading them, the only individual among many that could control those mindless husks.

The elegantly garbed Sorcerer stared down at him with tainted, almost possessed, eyes. The officer stared back, frightened of the monster that was staring into his very soul.

"All is Dust," the Sorcerer said to him. "You will become like us. Like dust."

One ethereal flash of light later…

"RAAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

…the tense silence was broken by a characteristic, almost inhuman battlecry and a massive gleaming Nemesis Force sword, which pierced through the Sorcerer's chest. The tainted psyker was unable to retaliate as he felt his soul get obliterated by the Grey Knight's mere faith and presence. The Thousand Sons Marines all raised their boltguns and begun firing in all directions, before each received a barrage of eldritch ranged fire ranging from shuriken to monofilament death spinners from the jungle area around them. Jacques pulled his sword out of the Sorcerer's chest then sliced through a charging melee savvy Chaos Marine armed with a chainsword.

The disabled Land Raider locked its cannons onto Jacques before two simultaneous prism laser blasts struck its hull and tore it apart. The koala pushed himself upright and felt himself being gently hoisted upward. He looked over his shoulder to see a blue-furred vixen wearing body-hugging black armour and a tiara. This mysterious young woman was also carrying a golden staff.

"It's…you," the officer said.

Krystal nodded, "We're here to help."

"We? You and Mortensen?" the koala smiled weakly. "Oh…prayers… do get answered after all…"

For added measure he suddenly passed on his feet, almost bringing Krystal down with his weight. Krystal gritted her teeth as she placed him on the ground.

"Krys."

She looked up to see Jacques standing above her crouching form, carrying his sword across his shoulder. Nemesis had blackened ash mixed with the blood of the Sorcerer he had slain covering the tip of the blade. The reason for the ash was that the Thousand Sons Marine he had hacked down had been hollow, except for his ashes, the only remnant of his material body. Jacques' eyes were narrowed as he appeared frustrated.

"Jacques?"

"They have sensed us use the Webway to reach this world," Jacques said. "They know we are here."

_And he is among them, they could hear Taldeer's embittered voice in their minds. Ahriman._

(SF40K)

Azhek Ahriman stood before the massive steel doors leading into the ancient Adeptus Mechanicus facility. This facility had been constructed away from prying eyes. It was built into the rock revealed by the artificially formed crater in the middle of the planet-spanning jungle. In Ahriman's right hand was his specially-made, twisted looked iron staff and in his left his ornate, equally twisted looking boltgun.

He appeared different than the other Sorcerers present, evident by the darker blue, sharper appearance of his robes and helm and his glowing blue eyes. Those same eyes that were staring into the half-mechanical skull symbol of the Techpriests of Mars. Beneath his cold, still exterior was much anger; anger at the fact that someone of his skill, knowledge and infamy was ordered to find something that was worthless to him and his Cabal. He was angry with himself the most, having agreed to help the Despoiler if it meant being able to come to Lylat.

Ahriman was in Lylat for one reason only: All the eldritch power unharnessed by the furs, emanating from the dormant Chaos gates. Enough of it for him to generate his own portal. A portal…to wherever he desired.

'The Black Library,' he thought. 'Through the furs, through the Eldar, through the supposed Cerinian sacrifice; I will seek the definitive knowledge to finally become a god.'

"Master Ahriman."

He turned his head towards a Cabal Sorcerer and two Thousand Sons Rubric Marines dragging an unconscious grey-furred mouse dressed in camouflage-fatigues behind them.

"You disturb me just so I can congratulate you for capturing a prisoner?" Ahriman inquired.

"No," the Sorcerer replied. "It is proof that they are closing in. Enough in numbers to overwhelm us. And the Eldar are supporting them from the shadows."

"Yes," Ahriman said, stepping over towards the prisoner.

He reached down towards his neck and into the scruff of his uniform and yanked out a dog tag…

**J. Brisby**

**343-35633-SC**

"Hmph."

"And Mortensen…"

"Is here," Ahriman interrupted him. "Along with the Cerinian. His Cerinian."

"They will impede our efforts to simultaneously locate the Imperator and harness the power of the Chaos gate on this world," the Sorcerer reminded him. "We are already suspected by Lord Tlaken…"

"The arrogant fool!" Ahriman stated. "Mortensen would do Tzeentch a service by killing him."

The mouse scout, known as Brisby, stirred until he regained consciousness. His eyes shot open at the sight of the huge, armoured Sorcerers standing above him. He opened his mouth to scream in fear but nothing came out. He saw Ahriman above him, holstering his boltpistol and clenching his left hand into a fist.

'El-Elizabeth,' the mouse thought

"Mark my words, Eldar," Ahriman vowed as his fist began to generate crimson lightning. "Once I am free from Tzeentch and his lapdog Tlakan I will find the Library and the records I seek. I shall suffer not on account of you or Mortensen's idealised notions of justice!"

And with that he brought his fist down on Brisby's head, generating a tiny psionic explosion that ripped his skull apart.

"I SHALL not suffer at all!"

He then barked out loud…

"Bring me the Sphere! Let us open these doors and continue this pathetic…!"

He then hissed in exasperation, lowering his head.

"…errand."


End file.
